The Mystery of Jack
by The Misfit Writer
Summary: The story of a teenage boy named Jack who was bullied out of school, abused by his parents, gone mute, and is unable to connect with people. Now he is forced to go on a cruise to rehabilitate himself. Can therapy erase the memory of abuse? Can it erase the pain? And most importantly will it make him able to talk again? Or leave him in more pain? JackxBobby OC Other Parings too.
1. Tacita Clamoribus

**The Mystery of Jack**

**AN: **This is an ORIGINAL fanfiction, and doesn't have one set of television characters and one exact place. It'll be an an amalgamation of all different characters and shows. Enjoy

**In the production office:**

**Jack:** Why am I so messed up?

**Me: **'Cause

**Jack**: Am I gay?

**Me**: Yes

**Jack:** Awe man!

* * *

Jack always knew he was different in one way or another. Whether it would be the way he acted or the way he dressed he knew he was different than the rest of his classmates. This feeling of difference caused Jack to be relentlessly bullied almost every day at school. They insulted the way he acted, the way he dressed, and the way he talked. They referred to him as some kind of retarded monster. Jack always felt bad about himself because of the way he was treated at school and his parents didn't seem to really care about him or what was happening to him. His father was an alcoholic and whenever Jack used to complain to his father about how he was treated at school his father used to call him a pussy and hit him over and over again. His mother was no better, because she let her abusive husband hit him over and over again, and not only that she would verbally insult him and use her cigarettes to burn him constantly. In a nutshell, Jack was an emotionally and physically frail child.

One day people from social services came, because apparently a neighbor had seen and reported the child abuse that was occurring in Jack's home. When they arrived his parents desperately tried to convince social services that it was a wild accusation and they had never hit or abused Jack in his life. Their story didn't have any weight because of all the bruises and cigarette burns Jack had on his body. He was taken away from his parents and sent to a special cruise. It was more like a reform center for abused children and they told him that he'd be very happy there. Jack, at this point, had little trust in people and took their words with a grain of salt, because all he heard when he was growing up was that he was loved, but why would the people who loved him abuse him like that?

The night before he is supposed to board this mystical boat that is supposed to make all the bad memories of his life disappear Jack is sitting on the windowsill of the foster home. He watched the rain pour outside as if it was a normal thing for him. His face was cold in the way that he showed no emotion he seemed hollow. His brown eyes reflected the rain rolling down the window, but much like his face his eyes were emotionless and hallow. He was sitting with his back to the wall and his knees to his chest. He had wrapped his arms around his legs and watched the rain outside as he rested his face on his legs. He was black skater shoes, black skinny jeans, a crimson red t-shirt with a black sweatshirt over it. He was wearing a locket around his neck, but the insides were a mystery to everyone except him.

"Jack honey, its dinner time do you want to come join the other boys?" Said a woman with long blonde hair and green eyes, and she flashed him a smile. He just turned to her and looked at her with his emotionless eyes and looking into them was like looking into a void of pain and mistrust.

"You're going to force me anyway," He wanted to reply in a slow and saddening voice that showed no emotion and seemed to have been spoken emotionlessly.

"We have something special for you today. Why don't you come on down, because it's your last day before your trip. It's special," She said before exiting his room.

He didn't think it was very special, but thought of this trip as a severe punishment. He didn't want to go on a boat with other children in his situation, because none of the children would be like him. He figured all of the children would be whiney and complain about their horrible lives when they lived in big mansions and their parents wouldn't buy them a horse. He thought this because the cruise was really expensive and the only reason he got to go is because the state ordered it. He hated being around other people, because he believed he was a misanthrope. He hated humanity as a whole, because he thought everyone was so phony and everyone was too weak. He believed that people should be strong like him, and not be weak little children who have to complain when things don't go their way.

He growled a bit as he got off of the windowsill and landed gracefully on the ground. He took one last look at his room and the rain out the window and figured he should go down. He was at his towns famously known foster home for boys. This home was known for its exquisite care and their ability to find homes for most of their residents, but the house was so filled all the time it was hard to find everyone a home. He exited his room and closed his door. The hallway was dark and he scowled because he hated the dark. The dark brought up memories that he didn't wish to remember. He made his way to the staircase and looked down as it was pitch black and he froze. He was frozen in utter fear of going down there. He couldn't do it. He wanted to go down there but the pitch black scared him. That's why his room had a large window and a night light. He thought about turning back around as a small night light shone from the bottom of the stairs and he slowly made his way down the stairs hesitantly. When he got to the bottom of the stairs the lights came on.

"Surprise!" The room echoed as he looked around and scowled even more. He absolutely hated parties, especially surprise parties He saw a table full of his supposed 'favorite foods' including pizza, sushi, and other typical teenage delicacies. There was a cake, tons of soda, and they even had a banner that said "Good luck Jack!" and it seemed unusually expensive.

"Do you like you're party, Jack?" A young boy with short black hair and blue eyes spoke to him, and Jack looked towards the boy with an emotionless expression once again.

"Kyle, I absolutely hate parties and I've always wanted to say this: I absolutely hate you!" He wanted to yell in Kyle's face before walking past him. Kyle looked severely hurt and began crying. The woman who had entered his room before came up to him.

"Jack! What did I say about making Kyle cry? You know he has dependency problems!" The woman said and he seemingly ignored her as he walked over and looked at the pizza. He grabbed a whole box of Mushroom pizza, grabbed a 2 liter of Mountain Dew, grabbed a bag of sour cream and onions chips, grabbed one of the cakes, and headed for the stairs, "Jack! Where are you going?"

He didn't reply to her and he went back to his room and closed the door then locked it. He opened his closet and pulled out a box which had plates, knives, cups, and forks in it. He had kept this from when he used to live with his parents. His parents never used to feed him, so when they cooked he would grab food and run back to his room. He kept everything that he needed to use to eat in his room. He pulled out a paper plate and took two slices of pizza, poured out some chips, cut himself a slice of cake, and poured him some soda. He carried his food back over to the windowsill and sat on it again as he ate. He didn't particularly like pizza, but with the only food to eat was pizza he tolerated it. He wondered what it would be like on this boat though. Would he have to see another therapist? Participate in youth groups? Play games? He shuddered at the thought of him playing a game.

He opened the window a bit to just feel the rain, it was the only way for him the feel things anymore and a way to make sure he was still alive. He took another bite of his pizza and thought it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He took a couple chips and drank some soda and pushed the food aside to try the cake. It was carrot cake and for some reason everyone thought it was his favorite, because when he first arrived at the home he was crying and wouldn't eat a thing. So they bought all different types of cakes and he took a bite of each and spit it out, but he didn't spit out the carrot cake so they figured he liked that type. Did he really enjoy carrot cake or was it the lesser of two evils?

He spent the rest of the night eating his 'last' meal and he admitted he didn't hate it as much as he thought he would. He ate the full pizza, half the bag of chips, drank the whole soda bottle, and had half the cake. Afterwards, he got into his bed and tried to fall asleep. Falling asleep was always something difficult for him to do, because he was afraid of what would happen if he left his guard down for a moment. He knew that no one would hurt him here, and the ones who tried to hurt him would get their asses kicked by him. He slowly relaxed and drifted into a slumber of utter peace.

The next morning the sun shone through the large bay window and shone upon Jack's face making his eyes flicker open. He groaned and looked at his clock and realized it was a minute before he actually had to wake up. Jack had the amazing ability of waking up just on time without the need for an alarm, and he couldn't understand why he could do it so easily, but it was just one of those things he could do without trying. He got out of bed realizing he was still in his clothes and had his shoes on, but he didn't care because he was leaving. He stormed out of his room and into the bathroom. He hated this part of the house because they didn't have a private bathroom but large public bathrooms and when he went in to take a shower all the boys who were in there ran out in fear. He didn't understand what about him that was so scary, but everyone always ran, everyone but Kyle. Kyle had always been clingy to him despite Jack's multiple attempts to get him to go away.

Jack grabbed a towel from off the shelf and turned on one of the showers, and he went into one of the cubicles and changed out of his clothes and wrapped the towel around him, and as he got out of the cubicle he saw Kyle sitting on one of the benches brushing his teeth. He ignored the boy and went into the shower and turned the water on full blast. He could tolerate the very hot water because it made sure that he was still alive and he didn't die in his sleep. Kyle got up and leaned against the wall outside the single shower he was in, and continued to brush his teeth.

"Jack, you're leaving today and you still haven't said one word to anyone. Can you talk just once? Are you able to?" Kyle asked, but he didn't get a response from Jack. He never got a response. Kyle sighed and spit out his toothpaste and washed his brush, "I don't know why you don't talk and I don't know why you're here, but I want you to know you had a friend. A friend who genuinely cares for you Jack," Kyle said before he left the bathroom.

Jack didn't believe a word the boy said to him. He would never believe that another human being cares about him without wanting something in return. He had a skewed perception on life and this perception made him believe that everyone was only using him. He didn't trust Kyle and he would never trust Kyle, but despite all that he knew that Kyle was always nice to him. For one reason or another he would always approach and talk to him even if he wouldn't respond, and this was something Jack could and would never understand.

"Jack honey it's almost time to leave," The woman yelled from downstairs and upon hearing this he quickly turned off the shower.

Even though Jack was an emotionless shell of a human being who didn't talk or have any real connection to another person he knew how to listen. He learned to be very obedient and not defy the actions of what older people tell him to do. He always has been good at following instructions. He always obeys what people of older age or authority say. All except when they ask him to talk or to interact with someone else. He, he couldn't handle that. It was a function that was illogical to him and he would not obey.

He quickly went back to his room and dressed in his normal all black attire which was a pair of black skate shoes, black basketball shorts, and a black v-neck. He picked up his suitcases and walked downstairs where he saw all the boys had lined up to say good bye to him. He ignored them and walked forward, and each of them did something to say goodbye. Some attempted to high five him, others a handshake, and some even tried to hug him, but Jack didn't return any of these acts of sincerity, The woman frowned at this hoping that Jack would at least say goodbye, but he didn't say anything. Jack did notice that Kyle wasn't there and figured that his initial thought was correct. Kyle didn't really care about him, he only wanted to use him.

They entered the woman's car and Jack placed his bags in the trunk. He took the passenger seat and buckled up. He looked back at the house and frowned. He was leaving another one of the places he called 'home'. The car drove forward as the image of the house faded into the distance. The woman didn't try to strike up conversation with Jack, because she knew he wouldn't respond. They soon left the quiet suburbs and entered the city and as soon as they did they were at the port and Jack saw the boat where he'd spend the next couple of years on.

**AN: **I'll update it once I get some feedback. Did you like it? Is it too wordy and descriptive? Also give me some thoughts of what you'd like to happen.


	2. Blooming Daisies

They approached the large cruise ship that seemed overly exuberant for a rehabilitation facility. It was a large ship that seemed to have multiple levels and it also seemed to include facilities of enjoyment, including: A large pool with a water slide, an arcade, an indoor movie theater, and other places that made it seem more like a vacation ship than that of a rehabilitation facility. The woman tried to hold Jack's hand, but at every attempt he avoided her grapple. She had always noticed how he wouldn't touch people, even by accident. This concerned her because it's natural human behavior to want to connect to people, but for him it was more like a poison. She truly cared about Jack, but she thought that he would never understand this.

The approached the entrance to the ship and Jack looked up at his future 'home' and only seemed to scowl a bit. He didn't show any real emotion to dictate what he was feeling at that moment, but he definitely didn't look happy. His lifeless eyes scanned the ship and he thought this place was something out of a cheesy fairy tale. He wanted to believe this was a sick joke that the woman had played on him to make him go on vacation and be 'happy'. He wanted to be happy, he really did, but he was incapable of feeling such an emotion, or any positive emotion. They entered the ship and Jack gripped himself quickly as he felt the air conditioning kick in.

"Oh hello there!" A cheerful voice spoke as they were met with a happy looking older male wearing a white suit with a nametag saying, "Hi I'm Jacob, welcome to the Sacred Ship!". Jack thought that was completely ridiculous and instantly lost interest in the male.

"Hello, you must be Jacob the manager of this facility?" The woman asked the male who looked at Jack and Jack felt uncomfortable under his stare.

"That is correct! This must be Jack, how are you buddy?" Jacob spoke as he extended his hand to ruffle Jack's hair, and seeing the male's hand moving towards him, he avoided it by jumping away and this made Jacob frown, "Okay, how about a handshake?" He asked extending his hand, and Jack only looked at it if it was poisoned or something.

"I don't want to touch your dirty hand!" Jack wanted to yell, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth, and he stood there staring at the man's hand who then quickly retracted it.

"His case is more drastic than you let on," Jacob said as he then told them he would give them a quick tour before Jack would have to return to his room.

Jacob led them around the ship, and began talking on and on about how old the ship was and when the ship was built, but Jack turned the man out as he seemed to go into a daze as he was admiring the area around him. He felt hollow inside and he knew he should feel happy that he was getting help. That someone was going to make all the painful memories and his past disappear, but he wasn't able to feel anything. He was beginning to believe that no one was actually going to help him, and that they had sent him here to be kept away from society because he was truly a monster. This thought made him stop and causes the two adults to stop as well and look at him.

They began speaking his name, but he was too deep in his own thoughts to even hear him. His eyes began to water as tears swelled in them, and he realized that what people had said about him was true. He was a monster. He was a freak. He didn't belong in normal society, because he wasn't normal. He gripped his head and went to his knees with mental pain. The pain that his parents put him through rang true. When they told him no one loved him, no one cared about him, he was nothing but a disaster, and he deserved to die.

He began to believe everything they had told him, and he began crying and the woman walked over, but hesitated to touch him. He realized that he was a bad boy and deserved to be punished, he deserved to be kept away, and this thought just made him cry even harder. Jacob placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and this caused Jack's head to shoot up as he glared at the male and moved away from him. Jack thought the male was actually going to abuse him, and he believed that he was just like the others. Jack didn't want to be hurt, and even though he knew he deserved it he knew he had to run. So he got up and ran off.

He ran through the hallways of the ship passing other patients and people who were aboard the ship. He ran all the way down to what looked like a resting room, because it had a large window and couches and a couple televisions. It had began to rain outside again, and instinctively he sat down and hugged his knees as he watched the rain outside. He couldn't stop crying, and he just wanted all the pain to go away. He took out the pocket knife he kept in his pocket and placed the blade against his skin closing his eyes.

"Don't do it," A female voice spoke quietly and this caused Jack's head to shoot up and he noticed a girl who looked his age. She had flowing blond hair, but it looked as if she had just woke up. She had crystal blue eyes, but Jack could tell that they had a lot of pain behind them. She was wearing normal clothes. A pair of black UGGs, a long black skirt, and a white shirt with a black cardigan over it, "I know it hurts, but please don't do it," She spoke again as she moved towards Jack and Jack got scared as he began to get up and leave, "Don't go," She said and something about this woman made him sit back down again.

"Who are you?" He wanted to ask, but now more than ever the words wouldn't come and he just looked at the girl with blood shot eyes. She walked forward slowly and kneeled beside him before realizing it was okay to sit and she hugged her knees too.

"My name is Daisy," She said and Jack didn't reply, but he felt it was odd that she'd have such a feminine name for being a patient on this ship. She knew that he wouldn't reply, and she didn't push him any more. She just sat there, "You look like you've been through much more than me, and it's obvious that it had affected you drastically. People here push to hard, but I will make sure that they never overwhelm you," Daisy said, and Jack refused to believe that she actually cared, because there was no way that someone would actually care. He could feel that she would use him for some reason. He just sat there staring at the woman and she smiled a bit before Jacob and the woman ran in.

"Jack! Thank god you're all right!" The woman said running over and tried to hug Jack who rolled away and stood up moving away slowly.

"Daisy? You're supposed to be in your room getting ready for orientation. What are you doing here?" Jacob asked her and she looked at Jack.

"So his name is Jack," She said to herself before she turned to Jacob, "I was getting ready, and then I saw Jack running and he was obviously upset. Jacob, I've been here a while and don't ever seem to understand people. You can't push people, and Jack is obviously a special case. I don't know what he's been through, but just leave him alone. Alright?" Daisy said and Jacob scowled at her.

"Miss, please wait outside," Jacob said as the woman left, and he turned to Daisy and slapped her. Jack's eyes went wide and moved back even more, "Daisy, you never seem to listen. I am not a doctor, I don't have to be nice to disobedient rats like you. You listen to me, I don't have to listen to you!" Jacob said to Daisy who had fallen from the slap and he turned to Jack grabbing his arm, "And you are going to your room. I will not chase you anymore!"

Once the man had touched Jack's arm he had an instinctual reaction to him, and he grabbed the male's arm and used all his force to flip the man onto his back. Then he took off once again as he opened the door and ran right past the woman outside. The woman looked utterly confused as Jack ran away. She walked into the room and saw the girl on the floor and understood what had happen. She scowled and left the room looking for the boy who had recently ran away. She couldn't believe that she sent him to a place where he would get abused even more.

Jack was now spiraling and he couldn't even understand what was happening. He was becoming more and more delusional as he ran through the halls. His eyes blinded the tears of fear and confusion. He couldn't understand how this place was supposed to help him if the staff hit their patients. He knew people couldn't be genuine he knew he couldn't allow people to enter his walls. He had to close up, he had to get away, he was bad, and he didn't deserve even the luxury of these amenities even while getting beat. He had to get off this boat.

In midst of these insane thoughts he bumped into a large man, and he looked up as the towering man stood over him. He cried even harder as he raised his hands preparing himself for the hit that was bound to come, but the man just chuckled and he opened his eyes to see a large African American man stand over him, and his name tag indicated he was the owner. The male watched as Jack got off the ground and Jack couldn't look the male in the eye.

"My, if it isn't Jack, what are you doing running around here by yourself?" The male had a gentle voice, but Jack backed up as his eyes even looked more lifeless than other.

"Jack! We're getting out of here now! We can find you a better home," The woman spoke as she approached Jack and looked towards the man, "Oh, you're the owner of the facility?" She asked eying the man up and down.

"Miss! It's not what you think!" Jacob said running towards them as he noticed his superior his demeanor changed, "Oh, how unexpected, hello Mister Sacred " Jacob said looking extremely nervous.

"Mister Sacred , how can you call yourself a man who wants to help children, and have employees who hit the patients you seek to protect?" The woman yelled at the man.

During this whole argument Jack stood apart even more confused about what was going on. People were yelling, people were fighting, and he thought it was his entire fault. He had done it again and he caused peopled to be angry at each other and at himself. He was nothing but a disaster and he finally, finally accepted it. Holding his head trying to hold back the memories of all the times people had hurt him, and all the times people had abused him. He thought if he even deserved to be alive. His eyes once again filled with tears and for once he showed the only emotion he could muster. Saddness. With this he began to cry as he slid down the wall crying.

"Jacob, we've discussed this already. You lay another hand on a child, and you're through. You're fired! Plus, Kayla was better suited for the job as the manager than you," said Mister Sacred

They all finally noticed that Jack was crying, and Jacob for once looked genuinely concerned and he moved near the boy, and kneeled beside him. They all allowed him to get near because he looked genuinely caring, but that care quickly changed when he backhanded Jack who took the hit falling over. He had lost all the feeling he ever had, and he was officially closed off. Before getting dragged off by security Jacob grabbed a handful of Jack's hair and brought his ear to his mouth.

"You deserved everything that you got. You're hear because you deserved it. You're nothing but trash and no matter where you go, or what you become, you'll always be trash," Jacob whispered into Jack's ear before getting dragged off by the boat's security.

Jack felt nothing, absolutely nothing. He lied there on the ground his eyes wide open as he just watched everyone called his name. He knew he was trash, he knew he wasn't worth living, but, and only but, he knew that he didn't deserve death. Not because he didn't want to disappear, but because death would be too easy for him and he deserved to suffer more than this. He slowly got off the ground and looked at the owner who said he'd lead Jack to his room, and now that Jack had finally realized that this was his life. He closed his eyes and shed a single last tear before following the male.


	3. Zack Attack and Nonchalant Bobby

Jack was beyond the point of being simply depressed by the time he had gotten to his assigned room. Even though no one besides himself would ever recognize the pain behind his eyes that he felt, he felt the lowest that he has ever been. He felt as if he was separated from reality and in a whole world of his own, because no one understood and no one seemed to notice. He thought that he felt this way only because he wasn't good enough to be happy. He figured that if he was really meant to be happy that he would, and because he isn't he's not meant to.

He looked at the room number and realized he was in room '666' and he found this terribly ironic and somewhat fitting for whom he was. motioned for him to enter his new home, but Jack was hesitant. He was always wary of going into strange bedrooms with men who say it's alright. He felt a soft push from behind him and Jack caved as he opened the door and looked around his bedroom. There were two beds on opposite sides of the room, and a single window between them. It wasn't big enough for Jack to sit on it, and he figured that he could always go back to that room to watch the rain. He noticed there were two closets and two desks. He also noticed the bathroom on the other side of the room.

One of the beds seemed to have already been taken, and whoever had taken it seemed disorganized to say the least. His, Jack assumed, clothes were scattered all over the bed and on the floor and Jack thought this was literally hell on earth because he hated people who were slobs. His eyes began to water again as he realized this was just what he deserved. He is a bad boy and deserves to be punished. He is a freak that doesn't deserve to be part of mainstream society and Jack once again gripped his head as he fell to his knees about to cry again. He couldn't take it, he couldn't take it any longer, and he felt that he was treated to good.

As he had another episode on the ground his roommate walked out from the bathroom. He had long dirty blonde hair, but looked like Justin Bieber with slightly longer hair. He had greenish-blue eyes and was wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a light blue t-shirt, "Whoa man, don't go freakin' out on me!" The boy said as he placed a hand on Jack to calm him down.

Jack felt the boy's embrace and figured he would not be abused by someone of his own age. Pulling out his pocket knife he swung it at the boy who noticed it beforehand and jumped back. Jack stood up as he pointed the blade at the boy with a shaking hand. The boy looked at Jack with a mixture of confusion and shock.

"Let's calm down here, okay? I'm Zack, I'm your roommate, and I do not want to hurt you. You must be Jack, am I right?" Zack said as he lifted his hands into the air, and Jack just nodded a bit to confirm the male's assertion.

Jack didn't trust the boy, not even from the beginning. He was just like the others and he wouldn't allow his guard to fall around such a liability. Jack knew that the owner placed him in this room with Zack in order for Zack to have someone to play with and take advantage of. He knew that the owner was aware of his own mental state and was sadistically making him endure mental turmoil through this battery and possible sexual assault. Jack didn't lower the knife, but Zack stepped forward and Jack thought he was either very brave or very stupid.

"Jack, put down the knife. I do not know what you thought I was going to do to you, but I would never hurt you. I have been hurt enough to know not to hurt someone. Plus, it's almost orientation, and someone will come to collect us. Do you want them to see you have a knife? They'll lock you up forever, and that's not good for anyone," Zack said trying to reason with Jack.

Jack contemplated what the boy was saying and wasn't ready to believe it. He thought that Zack wanted him to drop the knife so he could then take advantage of him until someone did come. He then realized that orientation was soon and this was still a hospital, or so what he was told, and that they don't let patients walk alone in mental institutions. Jack then figured that if the boy did attack he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. He dropped the knife and Zack let out a loud sigh realizing that he would be alright.

Almost on queue there was a knock on the door and Jack jumped away from it hiding next to one of the beds. Zack gave him a weird look and walked over and opened the door and Jack saw one of the boat's employees at the door. He got up slowly figuring it was time to go have some brunch as well as go to the orientation. He hesitantly moved forward and Zack wisely kept his distance as they walked down the corridor. Jack noticed there were few patients, but a lot of rooms on this boat. He wondered what the extra rooms were for. He didn't believe that this was legitimate anymore. He looked over his shoulder to see another employee walking behind them. They continued down the hallway and then down a flight of steps, down another hallway, and finally entered a large dining hall. The employees guided them to a table with the name "Sector 4" on it and they sat down. Zack sat next to him and Jack felt very uncomfortable.

walked up onto the stage that stood at the front of the dining hall, "Welcome everyone to the Sacred Ship! Some of you might have noticed that there are very few of you here, and this ship seems too large to accommodate you all. There is an explanation to this. Because the cost of rehabilitation is so much the higher levels of the ship are being used to host vacation cruises," As he said this murmurs rippled through the crowd as people seemed to be unhappy with this, and Jack couldn't believe his ears. He thought that this man was an emotional sadist for having people like him having to stand by while regular people are happy. He couldn't believe it. This man thought Jack was a monster and Jack knew this would happen, but believed that people actually cared about him, "Now, now I know what you all are thinking. The cruise part of this ship has all the features that the rehabilitation part has. However, the part of the ship where people are vacationing is strictly off-limits and no one is allowed there. Understand? No one," He said and everyone murmured again.

Jack looked around the room and couldn't believe what he saw; these people didn't even look like they had been abused. He was beginning to think that this whole thing was a giant ruse that the woman at the foster home had organized to torture him. He gripped his head as tears once again began to blind his vision. What had he done? He thought to himself as he hunched over with despair. He thought that he was a good boy at the home, did everything she asked and yet he was still abused mentally. He needed to get out, and as he got up to leave he saw an employee move towards him, and he obediently sat back down.

"Dude, what's the matter with you? Every five minutes you freak out about something. Just chill out," Zack murmured from next to him.

Jack ignored the boy because he understood that he only wanted Jack to stay near him is because he obviously wanted to have his way with him. He wouldn't let that happen. He would rather die than allow someone his age take advantage of him. Jack stopped and then thought to himself that he just defended himself. He gripped his head tighter as he realized by allowing people into his mind they would control his mind to think that he didn't deserve abuse. He did, he did deserve it and Jack thought that he wouldn't let him in. He began crying as the owner of the facility continues talking. He noticed someone take a seat next to him and he raised his head.

Daisy had just sat down and he noticed a large bruise on her cheek and this caused Jack to move away from her. It was his fault she got hit and it was his fault that she now had that bruise. He knew that she would hit him back so he raised his arms defensively and closed his eyes. He opened them shortly after to notice that she was smiling at him. He didn't understand her line of thinking, because he had hurt her, and she didn't want to hurt him back. She just sat there analyzing his every movement. He felt uncomfortable under her gaze and so he turned back to the stage to see the new manager, an older looking woman, to take the stage.

"Hello patients of Sacred Ship Rehabilitation Facility, I am Kayla your new manager and activities organizer. I am here to make sure everyone has a comfortable stay here and everyone makes progress. My son, Bobby, shall also be a patient here. For the sake of not embarrassing him I shall not make him come on stage, but I shall let you know that I do not tolerate any sort of violence towards others or towards yourself while you're on this cruise, and if I do catch you harming another person or yourself the consequences shall be dire," She said authoritatively.

"Told you," Zack murmured towards Jack

Jack looked at this woman and felt nothing but utter fear from her; because he knew she was the one who thought he was a monster. She was the one who was going to make him suffer through hours of mental torture and physical torment. He was utterly frozen in fear of the possibility of him having to be part of an abusive scheme. Daisy saw the signs of Jack's oncoming episode so she quickly poured a glass of water and threw it in Jack's face. At first Jack was shocked that she would do something in front of everyone. He thought that she had no shame in what she was and couldn't believe she took pleasure from publicly harming someone. As the water cool his temperature he felt only embarrassment as people around him began to laugh. Jack's lower lip began to quiver as the laughter continued, but the laughter was in his head because everyone was appalled and shocked that she'd do such a thing. Jack got up and began to cry as he ran out of the dining hall.

"Nice job Daisy," Zack said getting up preparing to chase after his roommate, but Daisy grabbed his hand making him sit back down.

"I'm sorry. I thought that would work, I truly did because it worked for whenever I went through an episode much like the one he's about to go through," Daisy admitted and Zack's expression softened when he realized she was only trying to help.

"It's alright, but I think Jack is different. His case seems to be more severe than the rest of ours. He hates physical touch, doesn't speak, and has these continuous episodes," Zack said leaning back in his chair.

"Yes, Jack is definitely different than you and me, but I wouldn't say his case is more drastic. The pain he went through was obviously more severe than the pain you and I went through," Daisy said looking down the hallway where Jack went.

Jack sped through the hallways desperately trying to get back to the room with the large window. He needed to watch the rain because it was the only way for him to calm down. He knew it, he fucking knew it. He knew that everyone thought he was a freak and he knew the people here are no better than the children at his old school that used to bully him. He could still hear the insidious laughter in his head as he ran through the hallways. He didn't know where he was going, and moving solely on instinct. Somehow he was able to make it back to his room, and he opened the door and quickly picked up the pocket knife on the ground and ran out the door again.

He moved faster now that he was on a mission to do something. He had to make the pain go away, because the memories were coming back and they were coming back quicker than he was able to repress them. He finally had made it to the room with the large bay window and he nearly dove to the ground as he sat down looking out the window. He tried to see if the rain would calm him down before he did anything drastic, but after five minutes of watching the rain the memories were still rushing back and he could do nothing about it. So he decided he had to force the memories out one way or another. Taking out his pocket knife he placed the blade against his skin, and this time Daisy wasn't here to stop him.

As he was about to do it he noticed a figure in the doorway and he instantly got up and pointed the blade at him. The figure chuckled and walked in. He had dirty blonde hair that spiked in the front, but the shades of blonde varied through the hair. He had crystal blue eyes and rosy lips as he moved towards Jack. Jack was confused as to why the boy was so calm about things. He knew that he was holding a knife and could attack him at any moment, but the boy moved so eloquently and without any fear. The boy finally sat down across from Jack looking out the window as well. Jack then sat back down and looked at the boy.

The boy looked back noticing Jack's stare, "Oh, don't mind me, continue doing what you were about to do," The boy said and this caught Jack off guard, he hadn't met someone who actually wanted the boy to hurt himself. He was confused and in response tilted his head at the boy with a quizzical expression, "My name is Bobby, the son of the manager, and I honestly don't care. If you feel the need to hurt yourself to make things better than I feel no pity towards you," Bobby said and this really confused Jack and Jack watched as Bobby continued to look out the window.

Jack figured if the boy didn't really care that he was going to hurt himself then he really could do it. Jack placed the blade at his skin, but something about this boy caused him to not want to do it. He wanted to do it, but because the boy didn't care if he did it made the whole act sort of ridiculous. Jack couldn't understand why he was feeling this way. What had the boy done to him? He thought to himself. Bobby then looked Jack in the eyes.

"What?" Bobby said before Jack did something that he never thought he would do. He dropped the knife crawled over to Bobby so that their faces were inches apart. Bobby thought he was going to kiss him, but Jack hesitantly, very hesitantly hugged him. Jack hugged the male for a split second before realizing they were touching and he got up and ran off. Bobby sat there confused as to what just happened, and Jack couldn't believe he actually just hugged someone. He thought he was going mad.


	4. Tides of Change

Jack sat on his bed alone in his room with his legs to his chest as he looked out the small window watching the rain. Zack had gone out to have fun because it was the only day they wouldn't have treatment. This made Jack unnaturally upset and distressed. He knew that these treatments would make him happier as well as make the memories of his past disappear, but it only made him more depressed. It made him depressed because he thought that he didn't deserve that clarity, that he didn't deserve that peace, and that he didn't deserve happiness. He buried his face into his knees as he wanted to cry again. He then heard a knock on the door and his head shot up. The person knocked again and Jack hesitated to open it.

"Jack? It's me Zack, I left my key in the room can you open the door?" Zack's voice echoed from the other side of the door. Jack was skeptical whether to believe this voice and he quickly scanned the room and noticed Zack's key on his desk. Picking up his pocket knife from the spot on the ground where he hid it he moved to the door and slowly opened it. On the other side he saw Zack and a boy that looked exactly like Zack except he looked skinnier and had a more sweet face.

Jack was confused and thought he was having another delusion and he slowly backed away gripping his head. Zack and this other boy walked in and the other boy gave him a compassionate look and then turned to his brother, "Zack, is he okay?" The boy asked and Zack understood what was going on.

"He's confused Cody. Jack, this is my twin brother Cody, another patient on the ship, and Cody this is my roommate Jack," Zack said briskly introducing them as he went over to his area and picked up his key as well as a bathing suit.

"Nice to meet you," Cody said extending his hand towards Jack who moved backwards staring at it. Cody slowly retracted his hand confused.

"Ah, um, he doesn't like to touch people and he doesn't talk either. He's a bit," Zack said then raised his hand to make a wall to cloud Jack's view as he made a motion of spinning his finger to indicate Jack was crazy.

"Zack! That's not nice! He's not that he's just a little more sensitive," Cody said moving towards Jack and Jack moved away to keep their distance, "Want to come to the swimming pool with us? Then we're going to get some dinner and then watch a movie," Cody invited Jack.

Jack analyzed the male trying to understand what he was trying to do, because Jack didn't think that he wanted him to come just out of sincerity. He looked at the man with askance as he slowly contemplated the possibilities. He thought that these people would continue to bash him if he didn't go with them and he didn't want to deal with hatred from people of his own age. He didn't want to go, but he figured if the staff saw him with other people that they'd let him go sooner. He didn't particularly like either of them, but he nodded his head slowly getting up.

"Do you have a bathing suit," Zack asked and Jack's eyes widened as a memory of his past came running back.

A nine-year-old Jack was standing by his family's pool and he looked into it's watery depths. His father came up behind him and Jack instantly moved away from him, but his father kept moving forward towards him. He desperately tried to look around for a point of escape but he couldn't find a way out. While he was backing away he backed into a larger man which Jack recognized as his father's friend. He gasped and tried to run away, but the large man grabbed his small frame and moved towards his father.

"Come on Jack, don't fight it, he wont hurt you," Jack's father said as he blew his cigarette smoke into Jack's face causing Jack to cough.

"Joe, he's more adorable than you let on," The man said as his father chuckled and blew another puff of smoke into Jack's face.

"I told you, Nathan, he's all natural. Now go ahead and throw him into the pool and we'll talk price," Joe said and Nathan smiled.

"Wet? Alright," Nathan said as he turned towards the pool and threw the young Jack into the pool. Jack didn't know how to swim and instantly as he hit the water he felt the coolness envelope him. He desperately tried to reach the surface as he was in the middle of the pool and watched his Joe and Nathan walked away leaving him stranded in the middle of the pool. Jack desperately tried to keep his head above the water as he tried to scream, but it wouldn't come.

He stayed there for hours and just when he was about to give up his father came back out and threw a circular floating object that Jack grabbed onto and his father pulled him in and pulled out of the pool. He hit Jack and Jack winced as his father pulled him close and he looked him right in the eye.

"Remember this pain, because if you're not a good boy this upcoming weekend then this pain will only be a small fraction of all the pain you'll feel," Joe said as he threw Jack to the ground and left him crying.

Jack snapped back to reality as his eyes were filled with tears and both Zack and Cody looked at him with concerned and he whipped the tears from his eyes. He shook his head to answer Zack's question and Zack tossed Jack an extra pair of swimming trunks. Jack held them and looked at Zack as he left the room. Jack followed slowly wondering what it would be like to socialize with the other patients. The walk was fairly short and the reached the pool fairly quickly. There was a large window that made up the east wall and there was a large pool, many water slides and minor water rides, and a bar where they served drinks.

"Jack, I'm surprised you came," Daisy said as she walked over being followed by Bobby, and when Jack noticed Bobby he looked away quickly.

"Yeah, we somehow were successful in coaxing him down here. Now that we're here we can have some fun!" Zack said running towards the wave pool, and Cody followed after him.

Jack had no interest in going into the pool and he simply went over to one of the tables in the corner by the bay window and watched the rain. He was trying to remember what had happened that weekend, but the memories were obviously too painful for him to want to remember. He didn't want to go swimming and Daisy walked over to him with a brunette girl following her. Jack got up to leave as they came but Daisy rushed forward.

"Don't go. This is my good friend Mandy," Daisy said pointing to her friend who glared at him with this nasty look and Jack felt intimidated by her and wouldn't make eye contact. Something about her was evil to him.

"Why did you introduce me to some freak?" She asked crossing her arms and Jack flinched at the word freak, "And why is he sitting here? Are you not able to swim?" She said verbally attacking him and Jack flinched again.

"Mandy, stop it! No wonder you're here, leave Jack alone! He's fragile," Daisy said and Jack couldn't believe it. He wondered why Daisy would be so cruel as to introduce him to such a fowl woman. Jack's eyes began to swell with tears as he got up to leave.

"Sorry, I didn't know he was so sensitive," Mandy spoke with her distinctive New York accent.

Jack ignored Daisy's attempt to make him stay and moved quickly towards the door. He couldn't stand being here anymore, and he needed to watch the rain. He yearned for the rain upon his skin. He quickly exited the pool area and made his way through the desolate hallways. He didn't exactly know where he was going because he wasn't paying attention to the way he got here. He began to hyperventilate as he tried to find the room, and he just got more and more lost in the maze of hallways and rooms. He wanted to scream out, but his voice wouldn't come.

He ruffled his own hair and tried to relax, but the memories of feeling lost and feeling pain rushed back quickly. He looked around and tried to find the waiting room again. He headed down the hallway in front of him, and then took a left and he finally got to his own room, and he knew how to get to the room from his own room. He quickly left the hall and made his way to the waiting room. He approached the large window and realized it didn't open. He desperately tried banging on the glass for it to open. He felt helpless against the reinforced glass and he fell to his knees as he tried another couple weak attempts at opening the window.

He thought he wasn't strong enough, he thought he wasn't brave enough, and he thought he couldn't do anything anymore. He couldn't do anything without someone's help. He was weak and he knew it. He slowly placed his back to the wall and instinctively hugged his knees as he began to cry once again. Bobby silently stood in the doorway looking at Jack trying to analyze him.

"Hey, I thought I'd find you here," Bobby finally said causing Jack to jump, get up, and quickly move away, "Hey now, relax, I'm not going to hurt you," Bobby said raising his hands. Jack didn't believe him, because he had been told that exact phrase many times before and everyone who had said that had hurt him. He kept his distance as Bobby tried to move forward, "Alright, I guess this is as close as I'm going to get," Bobby said to himself, but loud enough so Jack could here. Bobby sat on the ground where he was and Jack looked at the male confused.

Jack kept his distance from the male and sat down hesitantly staying about ten feet away from the boy, and he looked at Bobby with askance as to trying to understand what he wanted. Bobby stared back as if he was analyzing him and then softly smiled at Jack and Jack hesitantly looked away.

"I don't understand something Jack. People tell me that you don't like touching people, but why did you hug me then? Was it a mistake? Or are you just a fake?" Bobby asked with a sneer on his face like he knew what he was going. Jack's eyes widened and he was filled with disbelief. He didn't understand how someone could accuse him of making this stuff up. Out of anger Jack got up and began walking away, "I see you don't talk either, and that makes the possibility of you lying not possible, but why did you hug me? Is the pain you feel from the feeling of abandonment and the feeling that no one cares about you and you feel the need to cut yourself to make the pain go away and to make people notice? If so, you probably don't even realize it, but I do know that whatever you went through, which was probably all your life, was so drastic that it skewed your perspective on people. Am I right?" Bobby said as Jack walked away and this made Jack stop.

Jack listened to what the male was saying and he couldn't believe it. He grabbed his head as the lies he surrounded himself to make himself safer began to fall. Everything that he ever believed was coming undone. He believed it was possible that he did want someone to care, but it was more than that. He felt pain, but he didn't know why. He couldn't remember everything that ever happened to him, because it all blurred together. However, he did know the basic things that happened to him. He looked down at the ground and made a fist.

Bobby smirked slightly knowing that he hit at least the outer levels of his problem, but his smiled soon faltered as he saw a teardrop hit the ground and he got up and walked up behind Jack, and for some reason Jack allowed him to get close and Bobby was sort of surprised. Jack decided that this place wouldn't make things go away. That doctors couldn't make his pain go away, and he believed that only Bobby could, Bobby was the only thing good. Jack's perspective and illusion of reality to changed so it made Bobby his master of sorts.

Jack turned around and face Bobby, and he didn't make eye contact, and he did something he had never done before, "Thank you," He murmured so softly that Bobby almost didn't hear it, and Bobby's eyed widened and he couldn't believe his ears.

"Did you just?" He asked and then he saw the look on Jack's face and he realized it was a one time thing and he wouldn't press him to talk more. Jack then slowly and hesitantly extended his hand and grabbed Bobby's arm hugging it tightly. Bobby was confused as to why he was doing this. Jack then let go and walked over to a desk and took a piece of paper and wrote something onto it and then handed it to Bobby who looked at it and nodded.

He then dropped the paper and Jack once again grabbed Bobby's arm hugging it tightly as they made their way to the pool area. From the opposite doorway had watched everything that unfolded in the room and with curiosity walked over and picked up the piece of paper and read it's contents. It said, "Protect me," and nothing more. He placed the piece of paper into his inner coat pocket and looked out the window contemplating something.

"This is quite interesting," He said to himself before smirking and walking off and leaving the room empty.

As they returned to the pool area Daisy ran over to them and looked so relieved to see that Jack was alright. She was also surprised to see that he was holding Bobby's arm. Zack and Cody ran over as well, and Zack noticed that he was hugging Bobby's arm and he smiled. He figured that Jack was alright with people touching him so he every so lightly gave him a pat on the back. Jack quickly hid behind Bobby hugging his arm even tighter and Zack gave him a confused look moving forward and Jack moved back.

"Zack, back up," Bobby said in a defensive manner as Jack buried his face into Bobby's back.

"What? Why is he okay with you touching him, but not us?" Zack asked confused as to why he was so clingy to Bobby.

"I don't know, but he wants me to protect him, so how about we don't pry?" Bobby offered, but Zack didn't seem convinced and he crossed his arms.

"Zack, you're not jealous are you?" Daisy asked almost chuckling from the idea, and Zack's face became bright red.

"NO! Of course not!" Zack said turning his head away as they all laughed, everyone except Jack who stayed silent.

"Well, it seemed Mr. Sensitive is back," Mandy commented as she walked over to the group and noticed Jack's clinginess, "Oh? What is this? Is he now your pet or something, Bobby?" She asked and Jack tried to ignore her, "Oh, let me guess he can't survive without someone commanding him? My god, I thought he was just a cry baby, but now he likes being a submissive slave. I see, that's how you role," She said towards Jack who began to feel bad about himself. "My god you're even more pathetic than I originally thought. Daisy, we should leave this freak, because he's nothing but a pathetic little waste of a human being. He's more woman than man," She said beginning to laugh as Jack's eyes filled with tears, "Aw, little baby going to cry? Whatever," She said and Jack released Bobby and turned her back to Mandy and Mandy then took the opportunity to push Jack into the pool, "Whoops," She said laughing.

"You fucking bitch," Bobby yelled as he slapped her to the ground, "Don't you ever lay your hands on him again!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Mandy said getting up, and they all turned to Jack.

Once Jack hit the water he realized it was just like when he was a kid he began to freak out as he got to the surface of the water and began splashing around because he couldn't swim. Bobby instinctively jumped in and grabbed Jack's arm and brought him to the edge of the pool and Jack then clung to Bobby tightly and rocked back and forth as Bobby told him everything was alright.

"He couldn't swim, I hope you're happy Mandy," Daisy said moving towards Jack and Bobby.

Jack looked up at Bobby who looked down at him and Jack realized that he couldn't trust anyone but Bobby, and he would never leave his side. Bobby was the only one who could hit him, Bobby was the only one who could touch him, and Bobby was the only person who could protect him. Bobby picked Jack up and decided to take him back to his room, and when they got back Jack ran into the bathroom and changed, got into bed, and fell asleep quickly. Bobby and everyone but Zack left, and Zack just looked at Jack sleeping.

"This is going to be a long year," Zack said getting ready for bed.


	5. First Meeting of Blazing Fear

The day of rehabilitation had finally come and the day seemed darker than it has before. Outside it rained as if they were caught in the middle of a hurricane. The darkening light shone through the diaphanous curtains of the small room and Jack awoke quickly to the feeling of the light. He looked at his clock and realized it was an hour before he had to actually wake up, but for some reason he couldn't sleep. He got out of bed slowly. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a skull on it and a pair of black plaid pajama bottoms. He slipped on his shoes and looked at Zack who was sleeping deeply. Jack slowly exited the room and entered the silent desolate hallway. He could feel that it was raining outside. He wished he could go and touch it, but he knew he wasn't allowed in the forbidden zone.

He made his way through the hallways slowly as to not make anyone wake up. He smelled something good and he followed the smell to lead him to a small cafeteria that looked more like a café. Jack slipped in and he could smell the distinct able smell of cinnamon buns and coffee. He gripped his head as a memory came back and he fell to his knees closing his eyes with pain.

Eleven year old Jack was sitting at his old kitchen table and he looked as if he had been crying. Before him was a cup of cold hot chocolate and he looked into the darkness and saw his reflection. He couldn't remember why he was crying, but something bad had just happened and he felt pain all over his body. His mother, a very bitter woman, walked in. She had flowing blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She was wearing a very short mini-skirt and a revealing blouse. She had on black high heels and Jack could tell she had been drinking, but wasn't drunk.

She noticed him and that he was crying, "Why the hell are you crying? You did very well this weekend and did what the man said you should do," She said walking over sitting down at the table. She looked into his eyes and at the cup and she scowled, "You didn't drink the hot chocolate I made you. Is it bad?" She asked slowly getting angry at Jack. Jack shook his head with fear and his mother quickly swiped her hand smashing the cup into the wall, "Joe, Joe! Get in here!" His mother said angrily.

Joe, Jack's father, ran in quickly, "Candy, what's wrong baby doll?" He asked noticing the mess on the ground, "What did he do?"

"He wouldn't drink the hot chocolate I made him. He must not like my cooking, and doesn't understand how lucky he is for a mother who cooks and loves him. Ungrateful brat!" She said yelling at Jack and Joe walked over to Jack and leaned over him.

"Oh? You don't like your mother's cooking? You don't appreciate everything we do for you?" Joe said angrily.

Jack stood up already knowing where this would go, and he desperately tried to leave the room, but his father grabbed him and dragged him into the living room. He slapped Jack to make him fall to the ground and Jack slowly began to weep. His father scowled and muttered something about how his son was such a pussy. His mother walked in and she took out the cigarette that she was smoking and pressed it against his skin and caused a giant burn to appear. Then she repeated this action five more times before returning to the kitchen.

"He'll learn to drink what he is made and eat what he is made," Candy said before going out of sight.

"My mother was right, you were nothing but trouble," His father said before slapping him again, and then punching him in the stomach. Jack took the blow and hunched over trying to regain his balance.

"Here we go, he's going to drink all of this," Candy said returning with a pot of hot boiling coffee. Jack thought his whole mouth would burn if he drank that. He tried to get away, but his father held him again and his mother came over and put the spout near his mouth, "Drink it," She demanded but he wouldn't open his mouth and she scowled and his father scowled as well.

"She said opened your mouth!" He said yelling at Jack before punching him again in the stomach, but Jack wouldn't open his mouth.

"You ungrateful brat!" His mother said before pouring the whole pot of boiling coffee on his head and he began screaming as he was on the ground gripping his head. They both laughed and left him crying on the floor. Jack thought that this was his life now.

Jack opened his eyes as they swelled with tears, and at this point the lady who owned or ran the café walked over and was kneeling beside him. She tried to place a hand on his shoulder but he quickly moved away and she realized that he didn't like to me touched and she backed away. She was this African American woman in her late thirties to early forties and looked very nice. She pulled out a chair and offered it to him, and he took it hesitantly.

"Are you alright baby?" The woman said in a caring tone, but Jack felt uncomfortable her calling him baby, and he looked down at his lap and she realized that he didn't speak, and she just continued talking, "Honey, would you like some cinnamon buns and some Orange Juice?" She asked him and Jack slowly nodded as the woman walked towards the kitchen as Bobby and Cody walked in, "Oh good morning you two," She said smiling and they said morning back.

Bobby noticed that Jack was sitting at a table and looked obviously upset, "Jack, Jack!" He said before going to his side, and Jack seemed relieved to see him before he wrapped his arms around Bobby's arm and held him tight.

"Wow, he's really grown attached to you, hasn't he?" Cody said noticing Jack's tight grip.

"Yeah, I don't know what I did, but he definitely trusts me enough for me to touch him," Bobby said looking down at Jack who looked back at him.

"Can he understand us?" Cody asked and Bobby gave him a 'are you stupid?' look.

"Of course he can. He doesn't talk, doesn't mean he can't hear, idiot," Bobby said and Jack wondered if he truly did understand what they were saying.

The woman came back out with a tray of cinnamon buns, a cup of orange juice, a cup of milk, and a cup of coffee. She placed the cup of juice in front of Jack, Bobby took the milk, and Cody took the coffee. At the sight of the coffee Jack jumped up and backed away from Cody. They both stood up and looked at him wondering what was wrong. Cody lifted the juice, but Jack stood where he was. Then Cody picked up the milk, and Jack didn't move, but when he picked up the coffee Jack hit the ground and they figured he must be afraid of coffee.

"He's afraid of coffee?" Cody asked with disbelief because no one could actually be afraid of something so ridiculous.

"Not afraid, but maybe a bad memory is tied with coffee, and it's obviously painful enough that he's afraid of it," Bobby said and Cody crossed his arms with annoyance.

"I need my coffee though," Cody said and Bobby gave him a look full of daggers and he raised his arms, "Fine, fine I'll have some Apple juice."

"Good," Bobby said as the woman took away the coffee and Jack slowly returned to the table before grabbing Bobby's arm.

About an hour after they had breakfast at the ship's little café they had their first group therapy session and Jack didn't like the idea of it. As he, Cody, and Bobby approached the room Bobby could feel the grip on his arm tightened and Bobby looked down at him with a reassuring look. However, Jack couldn't feel more assured even though he knew he'd be safe in the arms of Bobby.

They entered the room slowly to find themselves in a sea of unfamiliar faces. Jack scanned the room and his original hypothesis was correct. There were a lot of wealthy kids here, and he could tell they were wealthy by the way they were dressed. Jack noticed Daisy sitting with a couple of open seats next to her, and then he also noticed Melody in the room. Melody gave him a sneer and Bobby stared daggers at her and she looked away. Bobby sat Jack next to Daisy and then took his seat next to Bobby. Cody sat in the middle of Daisy and Zack. Jack once again clamped onto Bobby, and Bobby realized he'd never let him go.

"Good morning everyone," A young woman spoke as she entered the room. She had blonde hair with dyed red tips, and she was wearing large clunky glasses. She was wearing a tight official looking skirt with a frilly white blouse over it. She was wearing flat shoes, "My name is , but you guys can call me Jupiter," She spoke in a cheerful tone that made Jack utterly sick to his stomach.

"Good morning Jupiter," A resounding chorus of students spoke in response to the woman's entrance. There were only twenty people in the room, but to Jack it felt like a larger crowd.

"Um, Bobby right? Could you tell your friend to let go of your arm? We don't allow physical contact until we all break the first step," Juptier said as she turned to Jack, "Sweetie, will you please let Bobby go?"

Jack shook his head furiously and buried his face into Bobby's arm, "It's no use Jupiter Ma'am. He won't let me go, trust me I've tried," He said and Jupiter just smiled and took her seat.

"Alright, but will he tell everyone his name?" Jupiter asked and Jack gave her a blank stare and then looked down at the ground.

"Ma'am, he doesn't talk either. He hasn't uttered a single word to anyone since he got here," Daisy said speaking up.

"Oh? Well, I wont push him into talking, Daisy will you please tell everyone his name?" Jupiter asked and Daisy nodded happily.

"His name is Jack, I don't know his last name," Daisy said and everyone said "welcome Jack" like a stereotypical group therapy room.

"Alright, I'll briefly discuss what we'll being doing here. Group will be the place we'll be able to talk with other people about events that have happened in your lives and how it made all of you feel. There will be no judgment here, and everyone will support everyone in anything they feel like saying. No one will force anyone to say anything, and if you don't want to go into detail or going on and telling what happened hurts you, you don't have to continue. This will also be a place for people to tell you that whatever you went through, you didn't deserve it. Alright? No matter what have people said, you didn't deserve it," She said and Jack could only think that everything she had said was bullshit. He believe he did deserve it, and he still does deserve it. Tears filled his eyes and he looked to the ground.

"So, this is basically a big group of people who have been messed up by life and we're here to complain and whine?" Melody said crossing her arms.

"No, we're here to get over issues that might be affecting our outlook on life. Like you seem to have a lot of pent up anger, and by discussing what has happened in your life may help resolve these issues," She said with a smirk on her face and Melody mumbled something to herself before looking away, "Alright, who wants to go first?" She asked and Daisy raised her hand and Jupiter pointed at Daisy.

"I may seem happy and flamboyant in certain aspects, but I do have things about my past that still haunt me, and I wont tell you how, but I am ready to discuss what has happened to me broadly. When I was younger my parents used to be very addicted to drugs. Any type of drug you could name they have done it, and one day after I decided, stupidly, to make myself known my parents started blaming everything on me. They blamed me for my dad losing his job, they blamed me for my mom getting sick, and they blamed me for everything else. Then, the verbal abuse started turning into physical when my dad starting hitting me, but then he decided that hitting wasn't enough. He started getting me hooked onto the drugs they had. Cocaine, Heroine, Marijuana, and any other drug you could think of. When he got me high, he," Her voice broke for a moment and Jack could tell that her eyes were filled with tears.

"Daisy, you don't have to continue if the memories are too painful," Jupiter said and Jack's head perked up as he felt the pain she was going through was real. She wasn't a spoiled kid complaining about her life. She went through difficult things and Jack felt bad for everything he thought about her.

"No, no it's alright I want to continue," Daisy said whipping away her tears as she continued, "My dad used to invite his drug buddies over and take pictures of make, make me do stupid thing, and even once he touched me. My mom, my mom desperately tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. He wouldn't listen at all. So my mom called child services and my dad found out she did then he killed her. He stabbed her right in front of me, and the memories of the blood and her screams and her telling me to run I-," She said before she continue anymore and she broke down crying and everyone was silent as she silently sobbed in the room.

"Daisy, I cannot express how sorry I am for that happened to you, but I want you to know that your father cannot hurt you anymore. The things he did to you, he was not a good father. He was a sick, sick man and I cannot express my disgust towards him. You are a beautiful, strong, independent woman, and you didn't deserve it," Jupiter said and Daisy smiled whipping away her tears.

"Daisy, that makes me so angry. I thought I was the only one who got hurt by people, and I cannot stand that a man would hurt his own daughter in such a way. It makes me want to find this man in jail and kick his ass," Zack said clenching his fist and Melody started laughing.

"It sounds to me like she asked for it," Melody said causing everyone but two boys, and Jack, to gasp.

"Melody, how could you possibly think that?" Jupiter asked as she crossed her arms obviously disappointed.

"Well, as she said she decided to make herself known. Good girls are seen and not heard, especially girls like her. She deserved everything she got, and for her to play the victim is completely hilarious and sad. Your father was right, you're messed up Daisy, and a pathetic whiner," Melody said and everyone was completely stunned that she said that.

"How could you possibly think that?" Cody said with disbelief and disgust towards Melody.

"I agree with her," A boy with long black hair and red tips spoke grinning and Zack stood up angrily.

"You two are sick son of a bitches, and I cannot understand how you possibly can think that she deserved this? How fucked up did you two get to think, to possibly think that she deserved it? Your minds are fucked up, severely fucked up," Zack yelled and the boy smiled laughing.

"I'm Blaze, not a son of a bitch, and I am perfectly sane. It seems like you also like getting abuse. Hmm? You're basically begging for a guy right now. Just like that little quiet boy Jack. He plays all innocent and shit, but quietly wants cock in his mouth. It's quiet disturbing to say the least," Blaze said and Jupiter stood up breaking it up.

"All right that's enough! Blaze you went too far and you shall be punished," Jupiter said and Jack's eyes filled with tears as he began to cry. He wondered how he could be so diaphanous. Blaze knew how weak he was and how much of a bad boy he was. He wondered if he really was like that. He cried into Bobby who then stood up with anger.

"How dare you? How fucking dare you? You don't know Jack, you don't know anything he went through, and yet you have the audacity to call him such things? Wow, you're such a big man, a big man indeed," Bobby yelled and Melody smirked knowing this would have happened.

"What are you? His boyfriend?" Blaze said chuckling to himself.

"No, I am his friend and I promised him I would protect him, and that means doing this," He said before rushing Blaze and punching him in the face. Cody and Zack quickly held Bobby back as two boys held Blaze back.

"You're lucky these people are holding me back!" Blaze yelled spitting blood from his mouth.

"The feeling is mutual!" Bobby yelled and Jack slowly got up and hugged Bobby and Bobby realized it wasn't worth it. Jack didn't want anymore fighting. He was done with it. He didn't know what he wanted, but he knew he wanted Bobby to be safe and the only way for him to be safe is for him not to get into fights.

Jupiter decided the group would end a little early and told Bobby and his friends to go to the Arcade, and they should be the only people in the room. They all figured it would be fun and Jack looked at Blaze who gave him a smile then winked. Jack's eyes went wide with confusion and wondered what exactly did Blaze want. Jack wasn't going to let whatever he wanted happen. He held tightly onto Bobby's arm as they slowly left the group room for the first, and definitely not the last, time.


	6. Oriental Memories

Jack sat in the corner of the arcade thinking about what Blaze had said, and wondering if what he said was accurate. He wondered if he was really just playing the part of an innocent boy for sympathy. He held his head as the voices in his head began screaming his insecurities and how worthless he was. He wanted to block them out, block them all out, but somehow he wasn't able to. Tears formed in his eyes as he hugged his knees. He wondered if it was still raining outside and he wanted to go watch it, but he knew if he left alone that the employees wouldn't let him. The employees believed he was a danger to himself and wouldn't let him go without a buddy. Jack wanted to watch the rain alone and didn't want a buddy or someone being near him.

He looked up and saw his friends laughing and playing the numerous video games and attractions that were in the arcade, and he should be playing with them but he felt like he didn't belong. He didn't feel happy and he didn't want to have fun. He wanted to crawl into a hole and just die. He sighed and buried his face into his legs and he heard footsteps approach him and he instantly shot his head up as he stood up quickly becoming defensive. This caused Zack to jump from Jack's quick movement and he clutched his chest as he tried to calm down.

"Jack, you scared the living shit out of me," He muttered looking at Jack who looked at him in a defensive manner, "It's okay Jack. Bobby wanted me to ask you if you wanted to join us in a game of this really cool role-playing game. Daisy didn't want to play and we needed a fourth person," Zack asked and Jack looked down. He had never played a video game before, but he watched a lot of people playing. He gripped his head as another memory of his past came back.

Twelve year old Jack sat silently in a dark room of a man's house. This man was friends with his father, and Jack couldn't remember why he was in this man's house, but he was in nothing but a button up shirt and a pair of boxers. He silently watched the man play one of the Final Fantasy games, and he seemed really into it. Jack just silently watched and then he saw as the man's characters' died in a battle and he got really angry and turned to Jack.

"What are you looking at? The boss was really hard! Do you think you can do better?" He said yelling at Jack who just sat there stunned and shocked as the man grabbed his arm and threw him into the chair where the man had been sitting and forcefully pushed the controller into Jack's hands, "If you're so good then play! Beat the boss!" The man yelled and Jack.

Jack didn't know what he was doing, but he decided he had to oblige. (**A/N: If you haven't played Final Fantasy 13, please disregard the terms I use. And just take it at face value, thank you**.) Jack pressed 'x' to initiate the retry button. He watched the screen as he realized he was controlling Lightening, the main character. He opened the menu and saw that his party was Lightening, Hope, and Fang. He had been watching the man play for hours now and understood how the game worked. He looked at the paradigms and realized the one that was set was Lightening as a Ravager, Hope as Medic, and Fang as a commander. He realized that the man had set up Fang as a Ravager, but didn't have a paradigm with her as a medic so he decided to set one. Ravager/Medic/Ravager.

"What are you doing?" The man asked curiously wondering if the boy actually knew what he was doing.

He scrapped most of the paradigms that the man had made because they were all terrible. He made his made paradigm to be Ravager/Medic/Ravager, which happened to be the most efficient in his opinion. Then he made a Ravager/Ravager/Ravager paradigm which was great for power loading. He realized that he lacked something if his characters got severely hurt so he made a Medic/Medic/Sentinel paradigm for quick recovery. Then he made a paradigm so that they could launch opponents into the air, so he made Commander/Medic/Commander. Finally he made something to debuff the enemy and buff up the team by making, Medic/Synergist/Saboteur. He realized that this party would be perfect for this boss.

The man watched curiously as Jack started the battle and Jack instantly switched paradigms to buff up the party so they would be protected against elements, have their defenses boosted, and attacks boosted. Also, he made the enemy slower and become poisoned. Then he switched into his double commander and medic to get some color into the stagger bar, and then he switched into his double ravager and medic paradigm to get the boss to stagger. From there he switched back to launch the enemy into the air and from there he switched to his tri ravager which kept the enemy in the air while launching magic at him. Soon with this tactic he had defeated the boss and with five stars.

"You little brat! How dare you upstage me?" The man yelled and Jack prepared for a beating, but the man stopped and smiled, "I should hit you, but you helped me and I learned something. So you'll just suffer later when I'm ready for you," He said and soon Jack snapped back into reality.

Zack was staring at him with his head tilted trying to realized where Jack had gone, and Jack slowly nodded saying he would play. Zack was sort of surprised and he led Jack over to a large television with Bobby and Cody sitting getting ready for them, and Jack sat next to Bobby looping his right arm through Jack's and Jack let him. Bobby took out four controllers.

"Alright, we're playing Tales of Vesperia **(A/N: Again, ignore)** and here are the four controllers controlling the four characters in the party. One is for Yuri, the second is for Estelle, the third if for Rita and the fourth is for Repede. Pick your poison, boys," Bobby said laying out the controllers. Zack instantly went to the red controller because it looked the most manly.

"Alright, I got the red one!" Zack said happily pressing start realizing it was Estelle's controller, "AWEE C'MON! I have to play the healer? This sucks. I want to change!" Zack said reaching for another one of the controllers, but Bobby slapped his hand.

"No! You will play Estelle and like it. Now Jack, go on and pick one," Bobby said smiling.

Jack looked at each of the controllers and tried to see if there was an order. Zack picked the third one and that was Estelle who was the second one in the line. Jack wondered if the line up was opposite to that of the screen. He didn't want to play Rita because spell casting was too hard for him, and Repede was quick and efficient but wasn't his type of character. He wanted to play Yuri, and so he tried out his thesis and grabbed the last controller in line. Pressing start he was sort of relieved to realize it was Yuri. Bobby and Cody cursed to themselves as they realized Jack took the best one.

"Alright! Jack you'll play Yuri then, and Cody already decided he'll play Rita and I'll play Repede. Jack are you alright with leading?" Bobby asked and Jack nodded his head.

They were about to enter the ruins to where the thief had escaped to. Jack slowly moved Yuri in and engaged in the first battle. This game was different from the one he's used too, but he instantly got use to it. As they engaged in battle Jack ran forward and started attack the virtual enemy, and somehow this act of killing evoked a feeling he never felt before and he just kept on killing and killing. Hours had passed and they weren't done with the ruins left and everyone was getting a bit annoyed with him. Bobby decided he should speak up.

"Jack, I think we've leveled enough, can you just lead us to the boss so we can move on?" Bobby asked nicely and Jack realized he had been fighting a long time and he nodded as they went into boss battle. Since at this point they were way over the recommended level they were able to beat the boss fairly quickly and level up once more. Jack felt as if there was a large weight lifted off of his shoulders. He then guided his digital character out of the area and sat back as a scene occurred.

"That was odd. Jack wanted to fight those monster for a long time. My hand actually got tired of pressing buttons," Cody said grimacing a bit as he began flexing his fingers.

"I know, it was him probably trying to get some frustration out, and maybe some pent up anger," Bobby explained as Jack just sat their focused intently on the scene going on.

"I don't know about that, but I enjoyed watching you guys play and the comments all of you make," Daisy said giggling referring to Bobby's please for Zack to heal people and Bobby looked away embarrassed.

"Well, the scene is almost over, shall we continue?" Zack said as they all focused on the screen.

They continued playing the game for a while and actually got pretty far. Jack was getting used to playing the lead character and playing the sword fighter. He was also getting used to having to rely on others just as much as himself. Even though he never could do it in real life he could allow these digital characters to help him. So far he noticed that Bobby had always protected him when he was low on health points, and Zack would heal him afterwards. Daisy stared intently on the screen not really understanding the complexity of how hard it is to fight. She was more interested in the plot.

When they got to a really good point of the game, Bobby saved as a precautionary and they all took a small break as they went to the cafeteria. Lunch was always a free time, meaning unlike dinner, breakfast and Lunch were always up to the patient to decide where they wanted to eat. There was this nice Japanese restaurant on board and they all had decided to go try it. Jack had never had sushi and he was less than interested in trying it, but he wanted to stay near Bobby so that involved him going to this place. He felt nervous and he didn't particularly like going to new places.

They walked into "Kawaī Kiti airashī resutoran"(Cute Kitty Adorable Resturant) which was a ridiculous name for a Japanese restaurant, and Zack commented on how ridiculous the name was. Jack gripped Bobby's arm more tightly and they walked inside. Jack thought it was unnaturally cold in here and he looked around seeing air conditioners. He wondered why a ship needed so many air conditioners.

"Kawaī Kiti kawaī resutoran e yōkoso kon'nichiwa, anata no pātī ni nandesuka?" The Asian woman hostess said cheerfully. They all gave her a confused look and Daisy stepped forward.

"Um, we don't understand Japanese," Daisy spoke softly and she bowed politely and smiled.

"Many apologies. Most people who come to our restaurants are Japanese. How many are you?" The woman said with a thick Asian accent.

"Uh the five of us," Bobby said smiling.

"Very good! This way please," She said as she led us to a booth towards the back and they were right near a large window where they could see the outside and they frowned realizing it was still raining, but they got to see the cities they passed.

"Oh no, it's raining," Cody said with disappointment as they were handed their menus.

The booth was set up like a semi-circle. The table was very large and the large chair was positioned like a semi-circle around the very large table. Zack sat on the left end and Daisy sat next to him, Jack sat in the middle of the table, the most protected spot, Bobby sat next to him, and Cody sat on the opposite end. Jack hadn't let go of Bobby since they arrived at the restaurant. Bobby truly liked Jack holding on to him, he felt that Jack needed to let go just so they could eat. Another waitress came and she was this drop dead beautiful Asian woman who looked their age.

"Hey, I know you, you're in the room next to me," Daisy said and the woman looked at her sadly.

"Yes, my name is Mizu, and I am a patient on this ship and to pay for my stay my family opened a restaurant here. Also, I have to work here occasionally," Mizu said looking at Jack and Bobby, "Awe, are you two dating?" She said pointed to Jack and Bobby.

Jack's eyes widened and let go of Bobby instantly and Bobby knew something had set him off, "No, of course not. He's just very clingy towards me because I promised I'd protect him like a brother. He's very emotionally frail," Bobby responded to Mizu in a very polite and concise manner.

Mizu nodded and understood with sorrow, "I see, what can I get you all to drink?" She asked politely, but they could tell she was fighting back tears.

"I'll have a diet coke," Daisy said politely.

"I'll have a Sprite," Zack said eagerly.

"Jack and I will have Mountain Dews, if that's alright," Bobby said turning to Jack who nodded with agreement.

"I will have a virgin Shirley Temple," Cody said and Mizu nodded slowly before leaving.

They all began to study the menu and Jack looked at all his options and he thought there were a lot of different types of sushi. He looked at something that looked interesting. It was called: "Menzudinābokkusu no tokubetsuna" (Man's Dinner Box Special) and it was a box with three rolls of any type of sushi, chicken or shrimp teriyaki, a salad, white rice, and Miso soup. He poked Bobby and Bobby looked over as he pointed to the picture of what he wanted, and then pointed to "Philadelphia roll" for the sushi he wanted, and "Chicken" for the teriyaki he wanted.

"You sure you want that Jack? It's a lot of food," Bobby asked and Jack nodded slowly as Mizu came back with the drinks and placed them on the table.

"Are we ready to order?" Mizu asked.

"I will have the vegetable Udon with some cheese wontons and one yellow tail roll," Daisy said smiling.

"Please give me, three yellow tail rolls, three Philadelphia rolls, one thing of cheese wontons, one thing of shrimp lo main, and some French fries," Zack said and they all looked at him shocked, "What? A man needs to eat."

"Anyway, I'll have one thing of seafood udon, two Philadelphia rolls, and one spring roll," Cody said ordering.

"I'll have one dinner box special with the California roll and chicken teriyaki, and Jack wants the Menzudinābokkusu no tokubetsuna with Philadelphia rolls and chicken teriyaki," Bobby said and Mizu looked shocked.

"You sure he wants that? It's a lot of food," Mizu said trying to reason with Jack, but he shook his head, "Alright."

She went away for a while and they began having small conversation. The reason Jack ordered so much food is because it had been such a long time since he ate anything he wanted. It was such a long time since people actually listen to him that he actually lost control. He was so happy of the freedom of he had that he might have went a little too far in what he wanted. He held Bobby once again and Bobby let him. The conversation went from recent movies, to super heros, to the recent wars, and then to video games before the food came back.

Jack looked at the large black box in front of him with all the food in it. He picked up his chopsticks and picked up one of the rolls of sushi. Everyone seemed to look at him for his approval and Jack put it in his mouth. First it tasted sweet because he tasted the cream cheese and then it tasted so good he picked up another piece and put it in his mouth. Everyone took this as that the food was good and that he didn't have to worry about it being poisonous or anything.

"Jack, you seem to like the sushi. Have you ever had it before?" Daisy asked him and Jack shook his head, "Me neither, my….parents never let me have anything beyond the essentials," Daisy said looking down beginning to get depressed.

"How about we not talk about our pasts? Jupiter said that group was the place to let go of our emotions and now I think we should just have fun. Don't you agree?" Zack said who obviously wanted to avoid the fact of talking about his past.

"Yeah, Zack is right, we shouldn't have to talk about our pasts, let's just get stinkin' drunk and do some stupid shit!" Bobby said and they all looked at him as if he was insane, "Just kidding. Let's just enjoy our stay on the ship," He said smiling and they all laughed. Everyone except Jack.

Jack looked at all of his friends and felt some sort of happiness surge through him, he hadn't been happy for a long time and he forgot what it actually felt like. He watched as his friends began to laugh and tell jokes and he felt his face move as he smiled, and everyone took notice to it, but pretended that they didn't. Bobby smiled to himself because he had finally gotten him to smile. After such a long time Bobby felt that he had done it.

Jack's smile instantly turned into a scowl as Blaze, Melody, and a couple of other people who they didn't recognize came in led by Mizu. Melody and Blaze stopped in front of their table and chuckled.

"My, my Bobby what a loyal pet you got there. How many times have you fucked him?" Melody asked laughing.

"You bitch," Bobby said as Zack held him down.

"Zack, keep on holding him down, because that's the only way you'll get what you want, you little faggot. Why do you think Jack is getting himself a little fuck buddy?" Blaze said secretly winking at Jack.

"Go away you two before we call security," Cody said and Melody walked off and Blaze turned to Jack and whispered.

"This isn't over, Blaze gets what he wants," He said smiling before walking off and Jack stood their utterly confused as to what he meant as to what he wants. Bobby pulled Jack closed and Jack buried his face into Bobby.

**A/N: People, I have noticed a lot of people coming to read the story, but not reviewing and I think that's just awful. I mean if you're going to read my story at least have the humanity to review it or favorite it. Thank you. :D**


	7. Sound and Rhythm

Jack couldn't stop thinking about what Blaze had said to him the day before and he was trying to understand what he meant. Blaze told him that he always gets what he wants, but did that mean that he wanted Jack? Jack couldn't stop thinking about how Blaze saw him as a piece of meat that he could just abuse and use whenever he wanted. This made him want to curl up and die, but seeing as they were still at the Asian restaurant he would have to save that feeling for later. However, he did just stare at his food not able to even think about eating in a situation like this, but then he thought that they'd all get angry if he didn't eat because he so desperately wanted to have it in the first place. Jack sighed and placed another piece of sushi in his mouth and slowly swallowed it. He wondered if any of his friends ever felt depressed like he did. He thought he changed a bit since he first left the foster home and he realized that he has opened up a little more than he should have.

Jack wondered if he should keep opening up or whether he should shut back down and act frigid around everyone again. He closed his eyes and remembered how it turned out last time he did that. The old manager beat him and told him he was trash. Even though Jack still believed he was less than human he had to pretend that he was getting better. He had to pretend that he didn't believe that for the sake of him leaving this institution just a little bit sooner. However, he did trust Bobby and he couldn't explain why he trusted Bobby, but he just could. Bobby, Jack could tell, put on a happy face, but he was hiding a lot of pain, and he could tell from the moment when he told Jack that he didn't care if he hurt himself. No sane person would ever think that. Yet, Jack thought that most of the people he used to know wanted him to hurt himself, but he also thought they were insane.

While he was contemplating this theory in his head he didn't even realize that Daisy had been calling his name, "Jack? Jack! Jack?" Daisy's voice broke through his thoughts and he shook his head reeling back to reality, "Where you remembering something?" Daisy asked him and he shook his head, and she continued, "Where you thinking?" Daisy asked and Jack nodded and she smiled giggling a little, "Well, stop thinking and eat up, we're going to go watch a movie remember?" Jack had forgotten they were going to go watch a movie and he tightened his grip on Bobby's arm and Bobby almost dropped his sushi.

"Easy Jack, it's just a movie. No one is going to hurt you while I'm around," Bobby said looking at Jack's scared and vulnerable eyes.

"I saw we see the new horror film about those kids going into that building where the radiation poisoning related deaths occurred," Zack said and Jack's eyes widened a bit not particularly liking the idea of seeing a horror movie.

"Oh yes, the best thing to get Jack to open up is to send him to a horror film to traumatize him even more," Cody said being the logical voice of reason.

"Oh please, horror movies are so cool, and maybe Jack needs to man up a bit," Zack said and he quickly received a slap from Daisy.

"No! Never use that phrase again. Who are you to decide what being manly is about?" Daisy said obviously upset about that phrase and Bobby placed down his chopsticks.

"Alright, everyone calm down a bit," Bobby said and Zack looked fired up and Bobby leaned back knowing this wouldn't end well.

"Well, what do YOU suppose we see?" Zack asked crossing his arms speaking down to Daisy who scowled at him.

"Well, how about Snow White and the Huntsman, it looks good?" Daisy said crossing her arms and Zack rolled his eyes.

"Daisy, as much as I personally would love to see that remake, it involves fierce battles and may be too terrifying for Jack," Cody said.

"I swear he-," Zack began before Cody raised his hand up covering his mouth before he could say anything stupid.

"I suggest we go see Men in Black, the new one," Cody said and Zack looked slightly surprised at this.

"Well, I'd like to see that. I saw the older ones and I had been dying to see the new one," Daisy said smiling.

"Me too!" Zack said smiling.

"Well, we better get going then," Bobby said turning to Jack who had most of his food still left and everyone else was finished. Jack made a motion with his hands to indicate a to-go box, and Bobby nodded flagging down Mizu who went and got them a to-go box to put the rest of Jack's food in and Mizu stopped them at the door.

"We will send this to your room, Jack. Our delivery man has key to every door. He very good man," Mizu spoke as they left.

Jack gripped his head as another one of his memories came flooding back and he remembered that this was the weekend that his father let his friend push him into the pool. He had been thinking too much about that memory and he feared that the memory would be too painful for him to want to remember. Trying to repress it brought tears to his eyes and he began crying slowly as the memory rushed back like a flowing river.

_Nine-year-old Jack was being led by an older, overweight, and very hairy man that was friends with his father. Jack knew that the man's name was Nathan and he 'got' Jack for the weekend. If anyone were to ask Jack was supposed to tell them that he was Nathan's son home from boarding school. He wondered why Nathan wanted to have Jack for the weekend. He was just a little kid, and he was a grown man. He didn't understand it at all, because he couldn't do grown up things that he could, and he couldn't even get into a bar. On this night Nathan had brought Jack to the movies to see the new Shrek movie. _**(A/N: Don't do the math, okay?)**_ Jack had seen the movies before, but only because he was forced to before he went away with Nathan this weekend._

_As Nathan bought the tickets the young blonde woman at the counter commented on how cute Jack was and Nathan agreed with her. He went on and on for a while about how cute Jack was and the blonde woman only fueled his compliments. He didn't understand why Nathan was calling him cute, because he was only a child and he was an adult. He didn't think that adults found children attractive. The man then took Jack over to the concession stand and told him he could get whatever he wanted. Jack felt completely happy, because he never had the ability to choose what he wanted to eat before, because everything was always chosen for him. He pointed to a box of Twizzlers and a picture of a large Soda. Nathan then bought him that and he bought himself small popcorn and a small soda._

_They entered the theater and Jack thought that the movie theater they were at was weird. He looked around and saw older men with children, and he didn't think they were family, because it was always older men with younger boys. There were no girls here and no women here. He wondered if this was a boy's only theater. Jack saw that some of the younger boys seemed as if they didn't want to be there, and some of them even looked like they had been crying. Jack ignored this and took a seat at the back of the theater as instructed to by Nathan. They were in a shadowed part of the theater so no one could see them, but Jack didn't know this at the time._

_The advertisements began to show and this is when Jack knew that the theater wasn't normal. There was a broadcast saying that everyone under the age of sixteen wasn't allowed to wear anything but there underpants in the movie theater. Jack was confused but hesitantly took off his shirt and pants, and shoes. He was about to take off his socks, but Nathan stopped him telling him that those were optional. A young man who looked about eighteen or nineteen walked around with a large container where everyone had to put their clothes. Nathan pushed on Jack's chest to make him lean back and for some reason Jack felt very comfortable._

_The movie began and Jack looked around as some of the young boys made weird sounds and some of them were sitting in the older men's lap. However, Nathan seemed restrained and sat back and watched the movie. About halfway through the movie Jack looked around and saw the young boy came back, and the movie was stopped for another announcement. The young boys now had to take off their underpants, and place it in the bin. Jack felt very uncomfortable, but Nathan nodded his head to reassure him that everything was alright. Jack took off his little pair of underpants and placed them in the bin, and now he sat completely naked except for his socks and Nathan looked a little more cheerful. Jack even noticed there was a bulge in his pants._

_Nathan had told him that the movie wouldn't end and another movie would come on right afterward, and Jack didn't know what that meant but he stayed still as the movie that they had paid to see had ended and everyone was clapping and then another movie came on. It looked like the show Spongebob Squarepants, but a movie form. Nathan's hand then was placed on Jack's chest and Jack thought that Nathan was going to tickle him, but Nathan began rubbing up and down Jack's chest and he didn't understand why he was doing that._

"_You're so beautiful, you know that?" Nathan said as he leaned in and kissed Jack, and Jack instinctively pushed him off, and Nathan began getting more aggressive as he pinned Jack's arms down, "Oh no, I saved my money, my hard earned money for this and I shall get what I want," Nathan said as Jack began to scream. Some other men came over, men without young boys and looked at Jack and smiled with lust._

"_Damn Nathan! When you said you were bringing a hot one you didn't mention he'd be this hot," One man said touching Jack's face, "Oh god he's so soft."_

"_Yep and he's never sucked a cock, says his father," Nathan said as he unzipped his pants allowing his dick to burst out._

***Warning* This next section will involve brutal rape from multiple people. Please, if you don't want to read. I didn't like writing this; please skip down to where the next sign is. Thank you *Warning***

_Jack looked at the large dick and was confused and amazed by it, because he had only ever saw his and his was so much smaller than the one that this man possessed. The man forced his dick into Jack's mouth and Jack tried to fight the man's grapple but he was weak compared to the man and the man placed his hand on the back of Jack's head and moved it up and down his dick. He began moaning and Jack was terrified as tears formed in his eyes. He didn't like doing this, and he was confused to why the man was making him do this and why the other men were watching._

"_I love a boy who fights it, it makes me even more aroused," Another man spoke as he unzipped his pants, "Nathan, can I fuck him?"_

"_No! I get the first fuck, but c'mon he has a mouth and two hands!" Nathan said pulling Jack's head off his cock and lifting him into the air. Jack's boy was presented to the crowd of men who gathered around to see him. Then Jack was placed down upon the male's dick and forced inside his ass. Jack let out a cry and as his mouth opened another dick was shoved in, "Oh my god Jack, your dad didn't tell me you were so tight," Nathan moaned as he fucked Jack harshly. Two men forced their dicks into Jack's hands as they fucked his hands._

***Warning* Scene is over *Warning***

Jack used all of his might to force the memory back inside his head as he sat on the ground hugging his knees in pure fright. Tears were streaming down his face and he didn't wish to remember anything more. He stood up and grabbed Bobby's arm so tightly that it might've just popped off from the grip that Jack had on it. Jack buried his face into Bobby's chest and began to cry loudly. They all stood confused as to what had just happened, but they realized Jack had remembered a memory that was so painful that it affected him mentally so much that he could only cry. Zack tried to place a hand on Jack's shoulder and Jack was so scared from the memory that he kicked Zack in the balls. Zack doubled over and gripped his groins.

Bobby was surprised by what Jack had done, because he never thought he'd get violent, but the memory he had just endured was painful enough for him to retaliate so viciously. Zack recovered, but he was obviously angry and Cody held him back and tried to reason with him, and Jack just simply held onto Bobby with all his might, because Bobby was the only thing keeping him sane right now and Bobby's eyes filled with tears because he couldn't handle Jack being so depressed, and he felt he had to do something, but he didn't know what to do.

"I don't know if we should still go see the movie," Daisy spoke to break the awkward silence in the air.

"I agree, Jack looks completely shaken up," Cody said releasing a now calm Zack who looked and Jack and realized how terrified he actually was. Jack shook his head as to say that he still wanted to go see the movie.

"Are you sure Jack? I mean you kicked Zack and are holding onto Bobby pretty tight," Daisy said and Jack looked down and sighed.

"No…alone," He murmured so softly that they couldn't believe he talked, but when he realized he talked he buried his face into Bobby and they all realized that he wouldn't speak again. Bobby decided that they should still go see a movie, but maybe they should rent one instead.

"Ooh, if we're renting a movie, we're so watching Inception," Zack said and Daisy's eyes lit up and she almost hugged Zack.

"Oh my god, I love Inception!" Daisy said and Zack was sort of disappointed that he didn't actually get hugged.

"Jack, do you want to go to the main room and watch Inception? If you don't I'll sit by you and we can watch the rain," Bobby said and Jack shook his head, "You don't want to watch the movie?" Bobby asked and he shook his head, "You don't want to watch the rain? Are you sure?" Bobby asked and Jack nodded, and then quickly entered a room and wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Bobby. Bobby read it and nodded smiling, "I see."

"What did he say?" Cody asked looking at the piece of paper that Bobby placed in his pocket and Zack looked curious and jealous.

"He said he likes the rain, but he always wanted to see Inception," Bobby explained and Daisy's eyes lit up.

"He's going to communicate with us through writing?" Daisy asked and Jack shook his head and took out the pad he had 'stolen' from and quickly wrote something down and showed the pad to Bobby and Bobby read it quickly.

"He said he would only talk to me," Bobby said and Zack let out a sound of disbelief and threw his hands up.

"Ah! Here I thought he made progress, but he only trusts Bobby! It makes me so angry!" Zack said angrily punching the wall.

"Someone's jealous," Daisy joked and Zack snapped at her looking at her with daggers in his eyes.

"Shut up!" Zack yelled looking the other way.

"Look, Jack IS making progress, but it's going to take time before he trusts us. For some reason he'll only touch Bobby, and for some other reason he'll only communicate with Bobby, but we have to be there for him, understand?" Cody said towards Zack.

"Yes, I understand, but I don't think it's fair, I mean what's so special about Bobby. He's so not special, and I'm hot," Zack said and Daisy burst out laughing.

Jack looked up and Bobby and felt something for him, something that he couldn't quite understand. He trusted Bobby and he connected with Bobby. Bobby wanted to protect him, and Bobby never judged him. Jack didn't understand this, because it went against everything that he believed in. Bobby was everything that Jack thought didn't exist, and Jack was ready to allow Bobby to be the person that cares about him. They walked down a hallway and began heading for the onboard video rental shop, and Jack couldn't believe this place was a facility, because it was more like a vacation. They arrived at the store and Daisy and Zack ran in and found the movie almost instantly before checking it out. Then they all decided to head to the main room.

They walked down the long hallway and Jack held Bobby's arm and slowly moved his arm down and held Bobby's hand. Bobby pretended that he didn't notice, but he was secretly happy that he had done that and when they got to the main room it was deserted and Daisy turned on the television and the DVD player and put the DVD in. Daisy sat in the single comfy chair and Zack cursed at missing the chance to sit next to her. Cody sat down on the couch next to Jack who sat next to Bobby leaning his head on Bobby's shoulder.

"Ooh, movie time?" Melody's distinctive voice spoke as she came walking in with Blaze and another boy behind her.

"Melody, what are you doing here?" Daisy said as she couldn't believe that she had the audacity to come here.

"Calm down you little slut, we're not here to cause problems. Even though you and the other cock whore need to handle the truth, and I love dishing out the truth. We don't feel the need to hurt you guys anymore, because Jack looks like he had a bad night, Bobby you need to go easier on him," Blaze said with a smirk on his face.

Zack got up from the chair he was in and looked at Blaze, "I should beat your ass," Zack yelled and Blaze's eyebrow rose.

"Like you want to do with Jack's?" Blaze said with a sneer on his face and Zack pounced and Blaze, but the boy held him back.

"Easy, easy!" The boy said calmly, "The name's Chase and ignore my rude friends we wanted to watch Inception, but you guys rented it, so do you mind if we watch it with you?" Chase said softly. Chase had long shaggy brown hair and crystal blue eyes.

"Zack calm down! You guys can stay, but stay the fuck away from us, alright?" Daisy said and Chase smiled as they sat down on the other couch and Daisy started the movie on the large flat screen.

The movie went on and Jack was completely enveloped by the plot and couldn't even understand the plot. He smiled a bit, and in that moment Jack smiled he looked up and Bobby who smiled back and then Jack instantly stopped smiling as he realized Cody had realized. He hated smiling. He always had, and for some reason Bobby's smile made him feel something, and Jack's eyes widened as he realized what exactly what he felt. He took out the pad and wrote something down with big letter and showed it to Bobby, and Bobby looked and it and read it shocked. He couldn't believe what he just read and he sat there looking into Jack's somehow emotion filled eyes and whispered something into his ear and Jack hugged Bobby tightly and Cody was confused as what just happened and he just looked down at the pad slightly as to not to give away what he saw. His eyes widened with utter confusion.

_I love you _was written.

**A/N: READ AND REVIEW PLEASE.**


	8. Returning Nightmares

It had been a week since Jack had confessed his 'love' for Bobby and no one except Cody had realized any difference between them, because Jack never showed any emotions and Bobby never went further in his attraction to Jack, because he feared the adverse effect of trying to do something when Jack wasn't ready. Cody on the other hand was happy and at the same time confused because he didn't know if they were dating or if Jack just simply loved Bobby. Cody was such a carefree spirit these days but felt as if he was growing apart from the others because he couldn't ignore the fact that they all were pretty messed up in the head and yet they were ignoring it as if it didn't exist. Cody didn't want to buy into a life where people would ignore things like this because they were too hard to deal with. Cody was tired of being afraid and he was tired of playing the victim. Mostly he was tired of letting the memories of his past rule how he acted in the present. He needed closure and he needed it now, because he wouldn't be able to relax and allow himself to get help if he didn't have closure. He also knew he wouldn't be able to get closure unless his brother was able to admit what had happened to them and tell people. Cody knew that up until now Zack would deny the fact that they were even abused let alone hurt in anyway. He thought that everything that had happened to them was nothing but a dream.

Cody knew it wasn't a dream, Cody knew that it was very much real, and Cody knew that what had happened to them what they were forced to do was still haunting both of them. Even if Zack wasn't ready to admit the fact that he was still affected by the memories, and denied their existence. Cody had to get himself help as well as help for his pathetically delusional brother. Cody knew that Zack had always been the strong one, and that Zack had always protected Cody no matter what. Cody didn't want to be protected any more, and Cody wanted to be the one doing the protecting. He wasn't weak like he was before and he wasn't as subservient as he was before either. He was new person, or rather, wanting to become a new person and get a fresh start, but he wouldn't be able to start over if his brother wasn't able to accept reality. This made him angry, this made him so angry that he contemplated hurting his brother just to make him realize, just to make him wake up and face reality, but he knew that he would never do such a thing. Cody wasn't a violent person and no matter how hard he imagined hurting someone he could never possibly lay a hand on another person violently.

Cody sighed as these thoughts were spiraling around in his head as he sat alone in his room. He was hugging his knees, because he liked when Jack did it and was looking out the window. It was raining again and Cody couldn't believe how much it had rained since they got here. Cody heard a knock on his door and he looked at the clock and realized it was early morning, and this made Cody also realize how little sleep he had gotten the night before. There was another knock on the door a more aggressive one, "Cody? Cody, are you in there?" Cody could hear his brother yell from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'm here," Cody responded getting out of bed still in his pajamas. He didn't feel like getting dressed today, "I'm coming out," Cody murmured as he opened the door to be confronted with Zack, Lilly, Bobby, and Jack. He sighed and exited his room and Zack couldn't help but notice how depressed his little brother was.

"Cody, are you alright? I mean you're in your pajamas and you looked like you haven't slept," Zack said wrapping an arm around Cody who shook him off.

"I'm fine! I didn't get much sleep, but I'm glad you at least accepted that reality," Cody said angrily leaving Zack very confused as to what had had done.

They decided to go have breakfast in a new place today, and this place was near the pool and had an awesome view of the ocean. However, seeing as they didn't know it was raining once again when they reached this new restaurant they were disappointed to see it was raining. Jack was the only one who didn't seem annoyed by the fact it was raining once again. They all sat down around a booth by the window because Jack basically dragged Bobby over to the table because he wanted to watch the rain. Everyone else took this action as normal activity for the both of them, but Cody was the only one who knew that Jack had feelings for Bobby. Normally knowing a secret like that would make him so happy and make him seem superior, but after the realization that he would never get better until his brother realized that what had happened to them was real, and it was still affecting their lives.

Jack looked at Cody and looked at him as if he was analyzing what he was feeling, because Cody might be able to fool everyone else, but it'd be a cold day in hell before he would be able to fool Jack. Jack could see the pain in Cody's eyes and Jack figured that Cody had either remembered something really painful or realized something that involved Zack. He couldn't trust Cody enough to talk to him, because he had issues of his own, but he knew that Cody was putting on a good façade, but not good enough to fool the very bright Jack. Cody saw Jack starting at him and wondered if Jack knew what he was thinking, but realized that was a ridiculous thought because Jack wouldn't even talk to him. Why would he care what he thought? Then again Jack did see him as a friend and maybe this would invoke some sense of care in Jack's mind. Cody almost chuckled at the thought of Jack caring about someone else besides Bobby, because as he knew Jack was in love with Bobby, and Bobby liked Jack but Cody couldn't tell if Bobby loved him. He wondered if they would start dating, and he wondered what it was like to date a guy.

"Earth to Cody!" Lilly said snapping her fingers in front of Cody's face making him snap to reality. Cody realized that the waitress was there, "What do you want to drink, dork?"

"Oh sorry, I'll have a hot chocolate please. No coffee right Jack?" Cody asked Jack who nodded back as a response and the waitress wrote it down and walked away.

"Cody, it isn't like you to zone out like that, are you sure you're okay?" Lilly asked and she was genuinely concerned.

"We're you're friends, you can tell us anything Cody," Bobby said smiling and Cody realized they were all his friends and they all really did care about him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Cody said as he began to cry and they all looked worried and confused.

"Sorry for what Codes? You haven't done anything wrong," Zack said looking at his baby brother with such concern.

"I'm not strong like the rest of you. I keep having these terrible nightmares and I honestly can't forget. I've never had friends before, and people have never cared about me. At school Zack was the star and I faded into the crowd, and then when everything started to happen I didn't have anyone. I just became a shadow that no one cared about, invisible to the world. Zack had people to talk to, he had everything, and I just wanted a friend a single friend, but no one would be my friend. Everyone ignored me and called me some freak. They thought I was gay because I didn't do sports and liked cooking. I was so alone and I'm sorry because I won't ever get better," Cody confessed as he cried louder and Zack felt incredibly guilty, because even though he knew it wasn't his fault he felt as if he had let his brother down.

"Cody, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, because I didn't know you felt that way. Cody if you wanted friends, my friends did like you, but you were so quiet. The things that happened to us were done by awful people and you have to let it go, you can't let it hurt you anymore. I went through the same things you did, and I didn't have everything. Even though I had friends and people who I could talk to do you honestly think I told them what was going on? No, I was scared!" Zack said back as his eyes began to tear up. Jack sat there shock, because right before him a breakthrough was happening and he didn't feel anything, nothing at all.

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, Zack! Don't pretend that you've gotten over what has happened to you! Even at the foster home I heard your screams from the nightmares!" Cody said and then he turned to Jack who couldn't believe he was going to be dragged into this, "Jack do you even hear Zack scream during the night?" Cody asked Jack who honestly didn't want to answer, but he slowly nodded. "See Zack, don't pretend like you're not affected by the memories, don't pretend like it didn't happen, and don't sit there and act like you didn't have it better!" Cody yelled back and everyone else at the table thought this was getting a little bit out of hand.

"Okay, I understand that this is a very emotional argument, trust me I do, but I think it would be better for group, because I think security has just shown up," Bobby said as he pointed two were four large men in white uniforms stood in the doorway and they walked over to their table.

"Is there an issue here?" The African American one asked looking at Zack as if blaming him for all the disruptions.

"No sir, we were just debating about which Harry Potter movie was the best. Cody thought the second part of the last book was the best, but Zack was debating the forth one was the best. We mean no harm, and we'll try to keep it down," Lilly lied so eloquently, and they could all tell they didn't honestly believe it, but they really didn't have any choice so they left without saying another word, and as they did Mr. Sacred walked in looking happy as ever and stopped at their table.

"Oh hello Lillian, how are you enjoying your stay here?" Mr. Sacred said as Lilly's cheeks flushed when he used her real name.

"Uh fine sir," Lilly said avoiding his eye sight and Mr. Sacred frowned as he sat next to Zack and Zack moved over making more room.

"Lillian, did you tell them I was your uncle?" Mr. Sacred said and Lilly's softly shook her head and he gasped, "Oh Lillian your mother would be displeased of this."

"My mother wouldn't care and you know it," Lilly said and Mr. Sacred couldn't really disagree with her knowing who her parents are.

"Yes well that might be true, but you should at least introduce me to your new friends. Of course I've already met Bobby and Jack," Mr. Sacred said smiling at both Jack and Bobby.

"This is Zack and this is Cody," Lilly said introducing them.

"Ah yes, the twins from Boston if I'm not mistaken," Mr. Sacred said and they both nodded in unison, "Ah good, I hope you don't mind if I join all of you for some breakfast."

"Of course not, Mr. Sacred," Bobby said smiling.

"Bobby, your mother is doing a great job running this ship. I actually came here to tell you as well as Jack something," Mr. Sacred said softly.

"What is it?" Bobby responded and Mr. Sacred's face changed from one of happiness and one of dismay. He sighed loudly and was trying to contemplate ways that he could put this delicately.

"Jack, as a part of therapy we have to, um, make you face a situation," Mr. Sacred said and Lilly's eyes widened as she knew exactly where he was going with this. She crossed her arms and leaned back ready for the repercussions that were going to ensue, "And, um, I'm very, very sorry to put you through this, but you're parents are coming, and don't worry everything will be very safe," Mr. Sacred said and Jack's eyes widened with disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing and he wanted to believe that this was a sick joke. He didn't understand how this was going to help him. He didn't understand how putting he through his worst possible fear was going to cure him. He began to violently shake his head as he began to panic. Bobby was also shocked by this revelation and couldn't believe that they would put Jack through that. Jack wanted to scream, but the voice wouldn't escape his mouth and for once he had actually released his grip on Bobby. He basically climbed over Lilly as he ran towards the door and out of the restaurant.

"What the hell, Uncle? Why are we still doing that treatment, you know that it was only 30 percent effective," Lilly said yelling at her uncle.

"Yes I know Lillian, but his case is special and we thought that it was the only way for him to start making progress if he saw that his parents couldn't hurt him anymore," Mr. Sacred said sorrowfully now regretting what he had done, "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all."

"No, no it isn't such a good idea, because none of us know what his parents did to him, and for all we know the things they did to him was so bad that seeing him might awaken those memories and completely cut him off from any contact with anyone," Bobby said and Mr. Sacred hadn't considered that.

"Well, I am going to go cancel this procedure. Problem is his parents are on the ship and if they see him before we can find him something bad might happen," Mr. Sacred.

"Wait, wait his parents are currently on the ship now and you JUST told him? Oh my god, what if they try to take him? Escaping this boat would be easy if they went to the forbidden area," Zack realized as all of their eyes widened.

"Oh god, oh god, oh my fucking god, I just realized that Jack's mother did carry in a large bag. This was her plan to begin with," Mr. Sacred said as they all gasped.

"I honestly can't believe you are in charge," Cole murmured to himself crossing his arms with disbelief of what's happening.

"Uncle, you and I will go find his parents, and Cole, Zack, and Bobby will go find Jack alright?" Lilly said and they all agreed as they ran off just as the waitress returned very confused.

Jack had to get away, and Jack had to get away fast. He didn't want to be anywhere near his parents and the idea of being anywhere near his parents not only sickened him, but angered him to the point of insanity. He didn't want to see their faces, because he couldn't understand their logic. They were the ones who had given him life, but instead of being the ones to protect his life they were the ones who made it a living hell. He couldn't understand how parents could be cruel enough to abuse their children instead of supporting them. He didn't even think these people were parents he thought they were some sort of evil devil spawns who purposely wanted to make children's lives hell, and he wouldn't let his life become any more difficult by being near them. He didn't care if it would help him, because he honestly rather be insane than be sane while having these awful memories of what his parents did to him. He completely cut off his memories trying not to remember something right now, because it would only make the whole thing worse instead of better.

Jack turned down a hallway and ran through an open door entering what seemed to be a kitchen. Before he left he grabbed a large knife, not because he wanted to hurt himself, but so he would have a weapon if something bad were to happen. He exited the kitchen and ran down another hallway, and he didn't honestly know where he was but he knew he had to keep running or he would be in a lot of trouble. He found himself in a large room that looked a lot like the waiting room he had been in before. There was a large window and Jack could see the rain outside. He also saw the door on the opposite side of the room and he ran towards it.

Meanwhile, Lilly and her uncle ran through the hallways quickly trying to avoid patrons and patients as they knew exactly where they were going. Lilly prayed that Jack was alright and that his parents hadn't gotten to him, because if they had she would never be able to forgive herself or even look at Jack again without feeling some level of guilt. They were heading to the entrance hall of the facility, a place Lilly had been to many times before, and as they were running Mr. Sacred had a hard time keeping up with an obviously more athletic girl like Lilly, but somehow they were both able to enter the office easily and when they looked around the waiting room they didn't see any parents there. Lilly panicked and hoped that the receptionist had told them to go home or something, but to make sure they weren't still on the ship she went over to the desk. The woman looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Lillian, what's wrong? Did something happen?" The lady behind the counter asked and Lilly quickly shook her head.

"Jack's parents, where are they?" Lilly asked and the woman looked absolutely confused and looked up at Mr. Sacred.

"His parents? A male nurse came in here and said that you, Mr. Sacred, had said it was alright for them to find Jack in the waiting room," The woman said smiling.

"What? I never allowed such a thing. Which male nurse was it?" He asked and the woman looked at her clip board.

"New guy, his name was Nathan I think. He was a big guy," The woman said and Lilly looked at her uncle with wide eyes.

"They had someone working on the inside, Uncle! We were tricked!" Lilly yelled and her uncle couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"Oh god, Jenny this is a red alert. Unauthorized and possibly violent parents onboard the ship, and please make sure if anyone finds Jack that they don't let him run off and make sure he's safe," Mr. Sacred said as he left the office with Lilly following behind her.

Bobby ran through the hallways confused as to what was going on, because he couldn't believe that Mr. Sacred was stupid enough to let parents on board with a large bag that was big enough to store a child in. Jack was in serious danger and he had to find him before his parents did. Bobby had promised Jack that he would protect him, and he would even fight Jack's parents just to protect him. Cody and Zack followed behind as they were also worried about Jack, but Zack couldn't stop thinking about what Cody had said. He knew he was trying to forget that what happened actually happened, and he was trying to pretend it never happened because he wanted to be happy again. He didn't want to be hurt by the memories and the dreams anymore, but he didn't want people know what he had done, because it would not only make people look at him differently, but make him look differently at himself. He knew what he did was only him trying to do what was best to survive, but other people wouldn't think that. He couldn't imagine what Blaze would say.

Meanwhile Jack stopped in the large waiting room with another large window. He stopped because he was exhausted from running and he had to rest. He sat down on the couch and watched the rain just like he always had, and he didn't even hear the footsteps behind him over his breathing.

"Joe, look, our baby still loves to watch the rain," Candy said as Jack was startled by her voice and he stood up pointing the knife at her and his father.

"Oh look Candy, Jack has a knife, because he thinks he's a man now and he has the capability of hurting his own dad," Joe said smiling.

"Men don't use knives anymore, Jack," Candy said smiling as she turned to her husband.

"Your mother is right; men use guns," Joe said as he pulled out a pistol from his pants and pointed it at Jack, "Now put down the knife, and get in the bag Jack. We made a whole lot of money off of you, and people seem to love you. Like Nathan, he loves you and wants to continue to love you so get in the bag!" His father yelled and Jack dropped the knife. He had nowhere to run. The door burst open and Jack thought he was saved and looked to see Nathan holding Cody and Zack in his arms, and Jack sighed.

"Found these two lurking by the door," Nathan said as he smelled them, "They're little cuties aren't they?" Nathan said kissing Cody.

"Ah, three for the price of one, sadly your friends can't help you baby," Candy said.

"Forgetting something, you big asshole?" Bobby yelled as he had a gun in his hands pointed at Jack's father and Jack's father smiled.

"One step and Jack is dead," Joe said as they stared at each other.

**A/N: Cliffhanger time, brilliant. Please advertise this! Please, please, please. As well as my other stories too!**


	9. To Protect and Serve

Jack looked at his father, who still had his gun pointed at his head, and then he looked at Bobby who was pointing his gun at his father, and finally he looked back at Nathan who had both Zack and Cody in his arms raised off the ground. He was trying to figure out what he should do, because he made the slightest movement his father might shoot him, but if he didn't do something Bobby might do something stupid and get himself killed. Jack didn't want anyone hurt, or anyone to die, but this situation was the most drastic situation he has ever been in, and he honestly didn't know what to do. He wished he was strong, he wished he was braver, and he wished he could be better than he was. He was weak, he was frail, and he couldn't even protect himself. He looked to Bobby who gave him a reassuring look, and he absolutely loved that Bobby would go to such lengths to make sure that Jack stayed safe, but Jack didn't think it was fair for him to get Bobby involved because it wasn't his business. He knew how much Bobby cared about him, and he was the only one that Jack ever connected with. Jack didn't think Bobby deserved to be in the situation he was in because of Jack. He closed his eyes gripping his head as a memory of when he used to be friends with another boy came rushing back to his head.

_Eleven year old Jack stood outside of his old house, and he looked up into the sky as he say the illuminating light shine down upon him. His parents actually were allowing him to go to a public school instead of higher a tutor, who was a pedophile, to teach him everything he needed to know. Jack was nervous to go to a new school, because he had never been to a public school before and he wondered if he would even fit in. He smiled as his mother walked out wearing the skimpiest outfit that Jack ever saw. She was wearing this short, tight dress with red and white horizontal stripes, and this dress revealed most of her breasts and she was wearing these bright red candy high heels. By the way she was walking towards him Jack could tell that she wasn't wearing any panties either and he knew what this meant. Whenever she wore a tight dress and 'forgot' to wear panties she was always trying to get something she wanted, and Jack guessed it involved his education. He knew they had actually enrolled him in school, but he wasn't sure what she actually wanted._

"_What are you looking at darling?" His mother said faking a smile because other people were around and she wouldn't do anything stupid, "Let's go honey, we don't want to be late on your first day," She said still smiling as she took his arm a little more tightly than was necessary and pulled him into the car. Jack sat in the passenger seat and buckled himself in as his mother entered the driver's seat and pulled out of their driveway. He wondered why his parents allowed him to go to public school this year. He wondered if they had changed and were actually going to allow him to be free and they wouldn't hurt him anymore. He was only fooling himself, because they wouldn't have done what they did for ten years just to throw it all away. Jack leaned back in his seat as they quietly, but quickly drove to school._

_The approached the school's parking lot and Jack looked up as he saw what looked to me a normal Junior High school. His mother parked and they got out of the car, and Jack felt that she didn't have to come in with him, because he was sure he would do just fine on his own, but she insisted that she would have to meet the principal. Jack sighed as his mother led him into through the front door, and Jack looked around saw everything he saw in video games, television shows, and movies. There were hallways, classroom, students, teachers, and everything else he ever dreamed of, and Jack was sure that he would be a normal boy now. He was sure that his life would be different and that he could finally become happy because he would be going to a normal school, make normal friends, and have a normal life. He wished for all of this, but deep down inside he knew that when he got home his life wouldn't be normal, but he could think of this as his safe haven and whenever he had to think of his happy place he would think of this school._

_The entered the main office and the receptionist directed them through a door which led to the principal's office. Behind large ebony desk sat a portly man who looked in his mid-forties and he smiled as he watched as Jack and his mother entered the office. He motioned for them to sit down in the large comfy chairs that were placed before his desk. Jack noticed there was a large space under the man's desk that when all the way to the front as if it was a hole, but then it had a moveable cover that could cover the hole and then uncover the hole whenever he wanted. He wondered what the man used it for, and was hoping he'd never find out. The man looked at Jack who smiled back awkwardly, and then looked at his mother who gave him a seductive smile before leaning back in her chair. He cleared his throat and loosened his collar a bit as he leaned back as well. Jack didn't know exactly what was going on, but he really didn't care. Soon she would be gone and he could relax, make friends and attend classes just like any other child._

"_Hello Mrs. Holden, and this must be little Jack, right?" The principal said and is mother smiled and leaned forward a bit._

"_Oh yes, this is Jack, he hasn't gone to a public school before, but he's smart and always willing to learn," His mother said smiling._

"_Is that so? I have always believed that long haired brunettes are always the quickest learners and the best students. I see that the uniform that I mailed fits. Anyway, I am sure that Jack will have a pleasant time at our school. I like him already," The principal replied in an odd tone, and he turned to Jack, "Jack I am Principal Gordon, please come to me if you're having any issues. Why don't you head to class? Your mother and I have a lot to discuss," Principal Gordon said as Jack left receiving his schedule from the receptionist._

_As Jack was leaving he heard a bit of their conversation, "So what do you think, Gordon?" His mother said her demeanor changing._

"_He's better than you described, Candy. I can have him anytime I want?" Gordon asked and Candy smiled devilishly._

"_Yes, he's all yours and from what I hear you've got some hot students already. So, as long as he gets straight A's he's all yours," Candy replied smiling._

"_Great, he'll fit in perfectly with the other students. How about we deal with the problem I have under my desk?" Gordon said smiling._

"_Gladly," Candy replied crawling under the desk._

_Jack didn't understand what his principal meant by 'wanting' him, but he didn't really care, and he figured it had to do something with a school sport or something. He was currently the most carefree student in the whole school at this point. He followed his schedule's directions and found himself in Mr. Sunshine's room, and he figured that Mr. Sunshine would be a nice and happy teacher. He walked into the class room to see children at desks talking amongst themselves as they looked as he walked in. Some of the girls seemed to perk up and giggle as they whispered to each other. The boys didn't seem too happy, and they looked almost sorry for Jack, and Jack was confused as their pitiful stares towards him. His teacher walked over to him, he was an attractive man in his late twenties wearing a blue polo t-shirt and a pair of slacks. He motioned for Jack to come over and stand next to him. Mr. Sunshine placed his arm around Jack lovingly._

"_Everyone, this is Jack Holden, and he's new to the school, and will be part of our class from here on. Everyone please give Jack a warm welcome," Mr. Sunshine said as the girls in the class gave a resounding applause and the boys seemed to give him a more lackadaisical applause. Mr. Sunshine told Jack to go sit next to Chase, and Jack sat next to the boy and flashed him a quick smile, but the boy didn't seem too happy to see him, "Alright, since its Jack's first day, the first hour of class will be a study hall."_

"_Hey Neighbor, what's your name?" Jack said trying to be funny, but Chase, who he didn't know was Chase at the time gave him a sorrowful look, "What's wrong, buddy?"_

"_Nothing, my name is, rather, you can call me Corey, my real name is Chase, but everyone calls me Corey," Corey said softly._

"_Why do you look so depressed? You look like your dog died or something," Jack said and Corey looked at him wishing his dog had died._

"_No, my dog didn't die, but whenever a new boy comes here bad things happen," Corey said to Jack who looked confused and looked around as everyone else seemed perfectly fine._

"_Bad things? What bad things?" Jack asked and Corey looked up realizing he had already said too much, but Jack seemed different from the rest. He actually seemed to care. He didn't know why he was caring so much, but Corey could tell he cared._

"_The principal takes a couple of us boys into his office, and when they come back they're all shaky, depressed, and mistrusting of everyone," Corey explained as Jack looked around realizing all the boys did match that description._

"_Have you ever gone?" Jack asked Corey who looked down at the ground sadly._

"_No, but I'm the only one in this class who hasn't, and he always takes two boys, and so we're next and I'm so terrified," Corey said as his eyes began to water slightly, and Jack hugged him, and Jack had just realized he was talking. He had never talked before, but yet when he came into this class room he felt as he if he could talk. Little would he know that this was the last moment he would talk like this again._

"_Don't worry Corey, if they take us I won't let anything happen to you," Jack promised, and he wouldn't know that was a promise he wouldn't be able to keep._

_The day progressed rather slowly as Jack paid attention in all of his classes as Corey was still jumpy and worried about what was going to happen. It was hallway through science when there was a knock on the door and Jack's teacher said they could come in. A woman walked in and all of the boys groaned as they looked away from her, and Jack figured that this was the woman that would take the boys to the principal's office. She had a saddened look on her face like she didn't like what she was about to do. She pulled her clipboard out and scanned down the list of names._

"_Corey and Jack are needed in the principal's office," She said softly as Corey and Jack stood up and walked over. Jack grabbed Corey's hand telling him everything would be alright and he would protect him. This would be the last time that Jack would be able to protect anyone._

_They walked to the principal's office rather quickly and Jack didn't have any time to ask any questions. They walked in and their principal was in nothing but boxers. Jack realized that this was like the time in the movie theater, and he backed away slowly. He didn't understand. He was enrolled in the school, he got straight A's in home school, and yet he was confronted with a half-naked teacher. He didn't understand any of it, and he didn't understand how the school would allow him to do the things that he was about to do. Principal Gordon looked at Jack and realized he knew exactly what was going on here, but when he looked at Corey he realized Corey didn't have any idea what was going on, and that was just how he liked it._

"_Well, well do you boys know the phrase: "Save the best for last"," Gordon asked them and Jack glared at him pulling Corey behind him not answering his question, "Well it means that the best things are always saved for the last, and Corey my boy you're the best."_

"_What do you mean the best?" Corey said almost yelling at Principal Gordon who turned to Jack smirking a bit._

"_You're one of the hottest boys in the school, you have the best body, and you probably have the tightest ass too," Principal Gordon said._

"_What do you mean I'm the hottest, I have the best body, and the tightest ass?" Corey said backing away and Jack backed away a bit too._

"_Man, you may be really hot, but you're not too bright. Corey, I like you, like how a mommy likes a daddy. I want to kiss you, hug you, have sex with you," Principal Gordon said smiling with lush._

"_What the hell? You're sick! I'm not going to have sex with you," Corey said heading for the door, but it was locked._

"_Sorry Corey, the door's locked, there's no escape," Principal Gordon said getting up from his chair and Corey looked at him._

"_I'll tell my parents!" Corey said and Principal Gordon laughed loudly._

"_Go and tell them, because they already know. They were the people who told me I could do this to you," Principal Gordon said evilly._

"_Then why is Jack here?" Corey asked looking at Jack who was wondering why was he here._

"_Well, Jack is the most experienced in this. When he walked into this office he knew exactly what was going to happen, and he probably even knew about it before then," Principal Gordon said smiling._

"_Did you? Did you know I was going to get raped?" Corey asked him and Jack shook his head furiously._

"_No, I knew that this man was a pedophile and did this to children, but I didn't know it would be to us. And if our parents don't care then there is no hope Corey. Trust me from experience when I say it doesn't help to fight it," Jack remarked sadly._

"_He's right Corey, don't fight it. First, before I fuck both of you I want you to start kissing each other while you take off each other's clothing," Principal Gordon said smiling._

_Jack didn't even want to fight anymore, because he knew it would be a lot more painful than just accepting it. He began kissing Corey who at first was reluctant, but then became submissive as they began stripping each other's clothes off. They started with their sports jackets, and then with their ties, and then with their dress shirts, and then with their pants, and then their shoes. They were both standing before Principal Gordon in nothing but their boxers and their socks. This was exactly like how it was in the movie theater and he was extremely terrified, but he grabbed Corey's hand and told him it would be okay and Principal Gordon moved towards them slowly as they both closed their eyes. Jack began humming a song he heard in church once hoping it would give them strength and that someone would stand up and help them. Even if someone stayed silent now, they would help next time._

Jack began repressing the rest of the memory because he didn't want to remember what happened next. He knew that that happened the last time he promised to protect someone, that's what happened last time he tried to be close to someone, and that's what happened last time he tried to befriend someone. He let Corey down, and he couldn't let Bobby down. Jack knew that Bobby was too close to him to let him down, and he knew that he had to let Bobby go because it was the best thing he could do. As he considered going with his parents he heard an alarm blaring over the speakers. Telling everyone that the ship was now in red alert, and his father screamed loudly as he cocked his gun.

"Okay now drop the knife or I swear to god I'll shoot you," His father yelled angrily, and Jack looked at Bobby one last time before dropping the knife. Bobby's expression dropped as he saw Jack drop the knife. He knew that Jack hadn't given up, but he was doing this to save himself. Bobby cocked his own gun and stepped forward.

"Jack, don't do this! You don't have to go with them. Run, he won't shoot you anywhere vital. You're too important to die. He won't kill you Jack!" Bobby yelled and Joe turned his gun to Bobby angrily.

"Shut up Kid! You probably thought that Jack was your friend right? You probably cared for him right? Jack is nothing but a cock loving whore who knows that he's been bad and now he has to come home with mommy and daddy to get punished," Joe said and Bobby began to get angry.

"Jack isn't some cheap prostitute that you can abuse! Jack is an amazing person, who is very smart, and you hurt him so bad that he doesn't even talk, he hates to be touched, and he doesn't connect with anyone. You're nothing but a monster," Bobby yelled back and Candy's eyes widened as she understood what was going on here. She giggled a bit and turned towards Bobby.

"Oh I see what's going on. You love Jack, don't you little boy? Oh, well if you love him I'm sure we can arrange for him to do anything you want. It'll only cost you twenty dollars if you let us go," Candy suggested and Joe smiled at her admiring her business sense.

Bobby looked at Jack and he smiled slightly, "You're right. I do love Jack, and he doesn't let me do anything to him, because he's such a bad and defiant boy," Bobby said and Jack froze because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked at Bobby who gave him a subtle wink as to indicate that he knew what he was doing, "Twenty bucks for how long?"

"Well, we don't have a lot of time, but if we sneak up to the upper levels how about an hour?" Candy said and Bobby contemplated.

"Well, alright, I'll pay you twenty dollars, but I want to hold Jack. I want to feel his smooth skin, and to kiss his rosy lips. I want to torture him a bit," Bobby said and Jack was beginning to think that Bobby didn't know what he was doing, "Drop the twins. They're not very good in bed, trust me."

"Alright, Nathan drop them," Joe said as Nathan dropped the twins as they quickly rushed to one another holding each other in their arms.

"Jack, go to him, you're his for the next hour," Joe said as Jack quickly went over to Bobby and hugged Bobby with all his might, "Well Jack really does love that boy."

"Hey Candy; remember when I told you that Jack was smart?" Bobby said to Candy who looked back at him with a confused expression.

"Yeah, why?" Candy replied

"Well, he's not the only one who can pretend," Bobby said raising his arm with the gun and shooting one of the fire alarms that caused the water sprinklers to turn on causing water to fall. This gave Bobby and opportunity to run and he grabbed Jack by the arm and began running. Joe and Candy yelled as they saw them escaped and they were about to pursue them before they were confronted by police officers on all sides of them. They raised their hands and Joe dropped the gun on the ground and they were quickly arrested. Bobby got Jack to the Asian restaurant where he knew it was safe. Jack looked at him happily and leaned in and kissed him. Bobby was taken aback by this action. Mizu ran over to them and noticed they were soaking wet.

"Are you two okay? Jack we've been looking for you," Mizu said and Bobby pulled Mizu close.

"Jack is in danger and we need somewhere to keep him safe," Bobby said and Mizu saw the determination in his eyes. She knew that she wouldn't fail like she has many times before. Mizu nodded and smiled.

"I understand, please take Jack into the kitchen my mother will stay with him," Mizu said and Bobby walked with Jack, but turned around and looked at Mizu.

"Mizu, what are you going to do?" Bobby asked.

"You said that Jack is in danger, right? If the man comes in here, I'll kill him. I didn't have many friends before, but now I won't lose a friend to a bully," Mizu said and Bobby smiled and reminded himself that he had to thank her later.

Nathan had also escaped when the water came down and he avoided the police officers, but he still would get Jack, and then he would break his parents out of jail. Nathan tried to think of where Jack would go, and as he was running through the halls he noticed a trail of water, and he slowly followed it until it came to an Asian restaurant. He walked in and it looked deserted and Nathan noticed a young Asian girl standing in the middle of the restaurant. Not knowing of her true intention he moved forward slowly.

"Excuse me; have you see a boy with long brown hair run in here with a boy with blonde hair?" Nathan asked the girl as she chuckled.

"Oh, so you're the one looking for Jack?" Mizu asked.

"Yes, is he here?" Nathan asked back.

"Yes, but you cannot have him," Mizu said stepping forward and Nathan almost laughed in this girl's face.

"Oh you can't be serious. Little girl, please move out of my way and I won't hurt you," Nathan said stepping forward.

Mizu pulled out a katana from the bag she was carrying and slowly unsheathed it as she pointed it at Nathan, "I'm sorry. We're closed. Please leave, because I don't want to hurt you."

"You little bitch," Nathan muttered.

Nathan pulled out a pocket knife and rushed at Mizu, and Mizu horizontally slashed and Nathan who ducked and then tried to stab Mizu. Mizu was a lot quicker than him and she side-stepped out of the way and then kicked the man in the chest. Jumping back she ran at him and slashed down at him, and Nathan blocked it with his knife. He punched Mizu in the stomach causing her to fall backwards, and Mizu rose her blade yelling as she began launching a flurry of slashes. Nathan tried to dodge them all, but one of them hit his leg and he yelled and backhanded her and she fell backwards. Ignoring the pain he stabbed the girl in the leg and she yelled as she fell backwards dropping her sword. She went to crawl for it, but he stepped on her arm and she began to cry slightly.

"You were close, girl, but I am a man and you're a little-," Nathan began as a gunshot was fired and Mizu looked up to see Jack holding the gun that Bobby previously had. They left the kitchen and Bobby, Jack, and Mizu's mother ran over tending to her wounds.

"Jack, you did it, I can't believe you actually did it. How did you get to be such a terrific shooter?" Bobby asked and Jack looked at him, and he really didn't know. He dropped the gun and turned to Bobby.

"I'm tired of being afraid," Jack spoke softly and Bobby was surprised to hear Jack talk as he hugged him, "Thank you for saving me." He said as Lilly and Mr. Sacred ran in with police as they saw the scene before them.

"Damn, what the hell happened here?" Lilly said as Bobby looked at Jack and Lilly's eyes widened, "He shot him?"

"Yes, and let's just pretend this never happened, okay?" Bobby said and Lilly nodded chuckling a bit.

"Well, we'll have something to discuss in group now," Lilly joked as Bobby and Jack glared at her not finding the joke funny. Jack looked at the dead Nathan realizing that it was all over.


	10. Unexpected Occurrence

Jack was feeling something odd that day, and usually he felt odd no matter what he did or how he acted, but this oddness that he was feeling was completely different than the norm. He was feeling weightless in a sense that pressure of something he couldn't really understand was lifted off of him and he found himself in a state of bliss. He wouldn't call it happiness, because he knew he was nowhere near close enough to call himself happy, but he definitely enjoyed this state of bliss more than the normal 'feelings' he typically felt from a day to day basis. Jack was sitting on his bead and it was still too early to go get breakfast or even to leave his cabin. He was creepily watching Zack sleep, and there was a look of pain on his face. Jack never found out why Zack and Cody were here and he knew by how the argued at the restaurant it was definitely something bad. However, he admired how strong both of them were for being able to get over it so easily. Jack admitted to himself that he was weak and it would take a long time for him to get over the horrible things that happened to him, and more importantly the horrible things that his parents made him endure. He did realize he needed help and this was practically the best way for him to get this help. He watched Zack as he slept and raised an eyebrow when the young blonde male began to toss and turn in his sleep. It was obvious that he was having a nightmare and Jack knew that he should wake him up, but he was also curious about this secret that he was harboring. He silently watched and listened for anything that would indicate what Zack was dreaming about and why he and his twin brother were brought here in the first place.

Zack was deep in slumber and completely unaware of the stare coming from the young male sitting across from him, and inside his subconscious he felt as if someone was banging a hammer into his skull over and over again. He began to toss and turn more violently as he groaned. Zack began to feel really hot as he tossed off the blanket covering him. He didn't want to remember what he was about to dream about, and he knew that his brother was right. He was denying the events of what happened so desperately that they were eating him up inside. He was having these terrible nightmares and he couldn't imagine what his brother was going through. He saw the images begin to manifest in his mind and he wanted to run away from them, but he knew that he couldn't run away from his problems anymore. He knew he was stronger than that, and he knew that the memories of what happened to him weren't his fault. He couldn't have done anything to prevent the events that proceeded, but he always felt deep down inside of him that he could've done something, because he's the older twin and he's supposed to protect his little brother, but he was too young and too weak at the time to do anything to save anyone and deep down he knew that, but he didn't know if he would ever be ready to accept that realization. He slowly allowed the memories of that one night seep into his thoughts as his dreams become enveloped by the horrific memories of his dark and very personal secret of his past.

_Eight year old Zack stood next to his eight year old brother Cody and they were watching their mother pace back and forth in another one of her delusional drug induced rants. Zack wasn't scared of his mother like Cody was, but he knew how dangerous she got when she was tweaked like she was now. She kept on pacing back and forth holding her head complaining about something about not having enough money. Zack's eyes narrowed and pulled his younger twin close as he knew where this was going. Cody had yet been exposed to their drug addicted mother's desperate schemes to get money, and often enough this would include selling Zack as if he were some cheap toy. Their mother turned to them her eyes blood shot from a mixture of drugs and crying, and she smiled wickedly as she looked at Zack and then looked at Cody and then her gaze looked back at Zack. Zack's eyes widened as he realized what she was scheming a shook his head rapidly. He looked back towards his younger brother as he looked up at him with innocent eyes. Zack wanted to cry because the innocence in his eyes would soon be taken because their mother was so addicted to drugs._

_Zack watched as his mother pulled out her special phone and dialed a number that he knew too well, and then she went off into a different room and the sounds of the conversation began to echo into the room where Zack and his brother stayed. Zack thought he could run away from her and possibly save his little brother from the awful things that were going to happen. He didn't want his innocence to be taken like they had taken his own. Zack was about to grab his travel bag and head out the door when his mother reentered the room and her eyes widened as she saw her sons or rather what she called them on multiple occasions, 'money bags', trying to escape she quickly stood in front of the door and shook her head. Zack wasn't strong enough to fight his mother especially when she was on drugs, because her strength seemingly increased because of them. Zack hissed and backed up pulling his brother even closer to him. Cody still had no idea what was going on, but based on how Zack was acting it wasn't good. He gently pulled on Zack's shirt as Zack looked down at him figuring that he didn't know anything at all, and he smiled gently as their mother got closer and closer to them._

"_Zacky, why are you acting so frightened? I'm your mommy, and I won't hurt you, you know that," Their mother said as she got closer and closer to them still._

"_No, I won't let you do this to Cody. You can do this to me all you want, but he's innocent and doesn't deserve this," Zack yelled and his mother didn't like this answer because she stopped for a moment and flipped over one of the side tables and yelled loudly. Zack cursed to himself under his breath because he said something that was meant to stop things, but possibly got himself into more trouble._

"_He doesn't deserve this? Do you know all that I do just to put food on the table for you two? To make sure you two are able to go to school? That you two have clothes and other things? You two have to pay your dues, and I don't give a fuck if he's 'innocent' or not, because he needs to pay his dues like you have. Plus, this man is paying three times the usual for the both of you so please shut the hell up, and do as I say! Understand?" Their mother yelled at them, and Zack knew it was pointless to try and argue with her because it was only going to lead to more trouble and possibly him getting physically hurt even before the 'man' got there. He sighed with defeat and nodded slowly as he hung his head. His mother left the room to prepare for her guest to arrive and Cody turned and looked at Zack and he didn't want to explain to him the terrible things that were about to happen, because honestly Cody would hate him forever if he knew this was going to happen and didn't do anything to stop it. Cody's eyes had a mixture of worry and confusion._

"_Zack, what's going on? What is she going to do to us? Do we have to kill someone, because I don't want to kill someone," Cody said and Zack smiled at his ignorance and knew that his innocent and ignorance of the real world would disappear tonight and his smile faded causing Cody to touch him gingerly, "Zack are you okay?"_

"_Yes, I am just fine Cody. No, we're not going to have to kill anyone, that's silly. A man is going to come and we're going to have to do things for him. That's all," Zack said calmly trying to not get him to freak out about the whole situation. Cody looked at him funny and looked deep in thought as he slowly began to wander a bit away before turning around smiling._

"_Oh, does this mean we're going to have to act and stuff? Or does this mean we'll have to take pictures and take commands like we're butlers?" Cody said in a whimsical manner as if this was a video game or some cheesy soap opera. Zack chuckled to himself about what Cody said because he was so right, but not in the way he thinks._

"_Yes, we're going to have to act, there will be pictures, and we're going to have to take commands," Zack replied sorrowfully as Cody's eyes lit up and Zack really wished that they hadn't. Cody began to get excited and he knew that that excitement would slowly dissipate as the situation would proceed. Zack heard the doorbell ring and his expression dropped as he pulled Cody close to him and he looked confused. Zack made the hand motion to tell him to be quiet as his mother answered the door._

"_Joey, what a pleasure to see you again, I haven't seen you in months. How's your son doing? What's his name again? Oh it doesn't matter the boys are in the living room," Their mother said and Joe sauntered in and Zack looked up realizing he hasn't ever seen this man before. He thought that this must be one of his mother's new friends, because he had never met him before. The man walked in and took a look at the twins and smiled before turning to their mother and smiling at her._

"_Well Carey, these are the cutest, hottest, sexiest twins I have ever met, and to think such an ugly man was their father. Well, they look like perfect new clients for my organization, but I have to see what they can do. I trust you, but you know it's just business, Carey," Joe spoke and Carey smiled hugging Joey around the waist kissing his cheek. Zack scowled knowing that he would soon to have relations with that disgusting old man, and even more worrisome would be that Cody would be forced to do things as well, and he's just so innocent._

"_Oh well, I can set up the special room and get you some condoms if you want-," Carey began before the man cut her off by raising his hand. He obviously had another idea because he pulled out a video camera and shook his head smiling._

"_No, that won't be necessary because I don't want them to do things to me. I want them to do things to each other. People will just eat up a pair of twins that don't mind doing things with men and doing things to each other. Actually, a lot of people would pay to just see the two of them go at it," Joe said and Zack's eyes widened because he was already not liking the idea of having to do stuff to this man, but now he had to do that stuff to his own brother? He couldn't do it and he wouldn't do it. He couldn't be the one responsible to taking away his innocence. He couldn't do that to his younger brother. He was supposed to protect his younger brother and not hurt him more. Zack looked up at the man called Joe and somehow Joe knew that Zack wouldn't do it and he smirked kneeling down near the boy, "I know that having to do things to your brother might seem awful, but it'd make your mom really, really happy. I have a son about your age back home, and I know this would hurt him,"_

"_Do you sell your son too?" Zack asked causing the man's face to distort with anger and he smacked Zack viciously. Cody looked even more confused as to what the hell was going on. He didn't understand what Zack meant by 'selling', but he didn't like it and he pushed the man away and stood in front of Zack. Zack growled and pulled Cody back not wanting him to get involved in this, but Cody wouldn't budge and he stood his ground. Joe smirked and chuckled a bit realizing this would be more challenging than he first thought._

"_Alright, you two want to do things the hard way? Then we'll do things the hard way. Don't come cryin' to me when you two get hurt. Now, you two will do as I say and nothing bad will happen to you two," Joe said reaching for Cody who looked absolutely terrified._

Zack awoke in a fright and he was relieved that he wouldn't have to suffer through the memory of what happened next, because he knew what happened next and wasn't ready to accept it. Zack jumped when he saw Jack staring at him and he figured that his screams must've waked Jack up and Jack just sat there watching him sleep. He could tell that Jack was going to do something if it went on for too long, and Zack smiled at him and Jack attempted to smile back. Zack felt sorry for Jack, because whatever he was going through seemed much more severe than what he himself was going through. Zack was about to say something to Jack, but something hit him, something that he hadn't realized in midst of the dream. His eyes widened as he turned to Jack and felt some disdain towards him. He closed his eyes trying to dive back into his memories even though they were extremely painful and he didn't want to go through the emotional pain twice in one day, but this was so important that he couldn't wait. Zack remembered the man's name that started the chain reaction that caused him and his brother to go through the trauma they're now trying to get over. The man's name was Joe and Zack remembered back to last week when Jack's parents broke in and tried to kidnap him. His father's name was Joe and looked exactly like the man from his dream. Zack couldn't believe it and he looked to Jack thinking he probably knew about this. He was so angry at the fact that one of his friend's parents was responsible for everything that happened. He wanted to hit Jack. He wanted to yell at Jack and tell him everything that happened was his fault.

As Zack turned to Jack he looked at Jack's newfound innocent and how vulnerable he was and all the anger that manifested in him suddenly disappeared. He knew that Jack didn't know about what his father did to him, because when they first met he would've recognized them. Zack seemed able to accept this theory, but then he thought that maybe the memory of meeting them was being repressed, and Jack really did know about everything, but wasn't able to remember it. Yet, Zack knew that even if that was the case Jack couldn't be to blame because he was probably going through much more at the time than he did. He was only used by the man and wasn't the man's own son. Zack couldn't imagine all the things that Jack's father did to him. Zack figured that they should get something to eat. He slowly sat up and realized that they would be starting school Monday. The first couple of weeks on the boat are for people to get comfortable with the ship, and then they go to a specialized school and still go to treatment and everything else. Zack didn't like the idea of school, because he had never been the best student, and as much as he didn't want to admit it he thought he was actually retarded. He smiled at Jack and got out of bed slowly.

Jack had been watching the boy sleep for quite a while, and was actually considering waking him up once he started to toss and turn, but he began talking and Jack wanted to get a clue to what he was dreaming about. Jack only heard parts of sentences at the beginning, and to his knowledge he thought Zack was dreaming about his mother and how she was on drugs, but as the dream progressed fear began to rise in Jack as he heard a name that made him freeze. He heard a name that made his body numb and his heart begin to beat faster. He heard his father's name and he wondered why Zack was dreaming about his father. He didn't think that Zack was into older men or men in general. Then he heard Zack yelling his brother's name and how the man named Joe wanted him to do things to his brother. Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Jack's father play in a part in their life, but that didn't make much sense because as he recalled they were from Boston and he didn't live in Boston. Jack figured that was a reason that his father was gone a lot. Jack didn't want to believe it and he didn't want to accept the fact that his father was one of the reasons his friends were here. He held his head repressing any memories that he might try to remember. He wasn't in the mood to remember anything at the moment.

"Jack, are you okay? Do I need to go get Bobby?" Zack asked and Jack instantly snapped back into reality and shook his head rapidly. He needed to be stronger than this and he couldn't rely on Bobby for whenever he felt sad. He did enjoy clinging on him, but he knew he had to be stronger in certain aspects, "Well, do you want to go get some breakfast?" Zack asked him and he nodded slowly looking at Zack with sorrow, "No coffee, don't worry."

They walked to their normal little café for breakfast and Lilly and Bobby were already there and Lilly was laughing because Bobby just told her the funniest joke. Once Jack got close enough to Bobby he clung to him surprising him and Jack began to cry into Bobby's chest. Bobby instantly glared at Zack who lifted his arms and Bobby realized he didn't do anything to make Jack feel this way. Lilly looked at Jack and figured he was probably still having bad memories of that awful day. She knew how hard it is to get over the fact of killing someone, and especially someone who brought on as much pain as Nathan did to Jack. Lilly didn't even dare touch him, because he would probably retaliate badly. Jack just didn't even want to acknowledge the fact that Zack suffered by the hand of his father, and Jack couldn't believe that he didn't remember ever meeting them before. Zack looked at Jack strangely and he began to get suspicious. He thought that Jack knew something and wasn't saying anything and he narrowed his eyes to the brown haired boy. He didn't believe that this was all a coincidence and he crossed his arms as Cody walked into the café. He saw Jack crying and slowly tried to walk out, but Lilly grabbed his arm and pulled him into the seat next to her. Cody was Jack's friend and all, but whenever he broke down it just made him feel so bad and he hated to cry, especially in front of Zack. He sighed and the waitress came over and they all placed their orders. Jack finally stopped crying and sat in his own seat wiping the tears away. He tried to smile softly and it only stayed there for a second, but everyone knew he was trying.

"Well, I didn't sleep well at all last night. I had the worst nightmare, and I woke Jack up with it. Did I say anything in my sleep? I am known to talk when I have a nightmare," Zack asked with his arms still crossed smirking at Jack and Jack thought to himself that he could lie and say no and Zack wouldn't be able to prove it. Jack decided to lie and shake his head no, "No? Well damn, I must be getting better," Zack said taking a piece of toast and Cody smiled softly.

"That's great to hear Zack. I don't have nightmares. Never have," Bobby said and they all looked shocked and they turned to him with faces of disbelief. Bobby chuckled a bit and realized it is pretty surprising for a person like him to never have a nightmare, "I know it's crazy, but my problems don't affect my sleep."

"Bobby, I have been wondering. You seem pretty _normal_, why are you here? No offense, but you seem pretty_ happy_ and mentally balanced," Lilly asked and Bobby's smile faded and Lilly instantly regretted asking realizing it was probably a bad idea to ask, "It's alright. You don't have to talk about it. I pressed my limits."

"It's no problem," Bobby lied and he looked down at his lap trying not to let down his walls. He always tried to be strong even if it meant bottling up his feelings, but what Lilly said to him kept on swirling around in his head. Bobby repeated what Lilly said to him in his brain. She had told him that he was 'normal' and 'pretty happy', but he knew that he was anything but normal. He didn't want Jack to see him as someone who wasn't weak and couldn't protect him. He promised to protect Jack no matter what.

Jack didn't want to acknowledge the fact that he saw Bobby lower his guard for a moment, because he could tell that Bobby had to be strong for him, but he was tired of getting protected and wanted to do some of the protecting too. He sighed and their food arrived as they began to eat their breakfast quickly, because they had another wonderful session of group therapy. They finished eating and left the café silently, because none of them particularly liked group therapy, and none of them actually thought it was helpful. Jack knew that private therapy would begin in a couple weeks too, and he didn't know if he would be able to talk to a person about his feelings, because he wasn't really good at expressing his feelings. They walked towards the room and Jack noticed that Blaze and Melody haven't been around. He couldn't remember the last time he saw them, but he figured they were probably terrorizing some younger children or causing chaos. He didn't even like the fact that they were in the same group therapy as him, because he didn't think he'd be able to talk about anything with them there, because he knew that they would just criticize and insult him.

As they walked into the room they noticed it was already abuzz with conversation and giggles, and as Jack walked in they all glared at him with a mixture of fear, curiosity, disbelief, and envy. Jack figured that they had heard about what he did the week before. He noticed that Mitsu wasn't in the room and figured she would be still in the infirmary for the injuries that she suffered during her battle with Nathan. Jack was still caught up on how she was so skillful with a sword and wondered if she had to fight before. She seemed like such a quiet and timid girl to him that she wouldn't hurt someone unless she had to. It wasn't his place to speculate on why she was there or why she was so good at fighting with a sword, but he could be there for here if she needed support. He smiled as he took a seat in between Lilly and Bobby, because he felt this was the most comfortable and safe arrangement. Zack sat on the left of Bobby and Cody sat on the right of Lilly so he was completely surrounded by his friends. He watched as Melody walked in followed by Blaze, and Corey followed in a bit after them, and Jack narrowed his eyes, because he looked so familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it, and he sighed giving up his efforts.

"Good morning everyone," Jupiter said as she walked in, and she was wearing a frilly floral print skirt with a black blouse. She was also wearing flats and a rose headband. Jack never understood why she dressed the way she did, but he decided not to question, because it wasn't his place, "This past week was rather crazy, wasn't it? With us going into that emergency mode and the fire sprinklers coming on, and I didn't get the full details of what happen, but only the premise of what happened. Jack, since you were there directly why don't you explain what happened that day to the whole group?" Jupiter asked him and Jack froze burying his face into Bobby's chest and Blaze smirked.

"What's wrong Jacky? Don't want to admit what happened? That your parents wanted you to go back to where you deserve to be? C'mon tell the whole group what you are," Blaze said attempting to instigate an argument and Zack's eye twitched and he crossed his arms.

"Blaze, why won't you shut the hell up? I mean, why do you always have to target Jack? He's emotionally fragile, and this is supposed to be a place of healing not hatred!" Zack yelled and Blaze glared at Zack and smirked again.

"Oh my, I am so sorry Zack. I apologize for what I said," Blaze said sarcastically before chuckling a bit, "Oh please, Jack is just a drama queen who can't handle his shit."

"That's enough Blaze," Jupiter said raising her voice to Blaze and Blaze backed down slowly and reluctantly as if he was only doing it because she was a position of power. She then smiled and turned to Bobby, "Alright Jack, sorry for trying to push you. Bobby since you were also there when it happened, will you please explain what happened?"

"Alright, but let me tell you it isn't very pleasant. So, we were having lunch I think and Jack found out his parents were on board for an experimental treatment and this caused Jack to run away. We then found out that this was a ploy to actually kidnap Jack and so Zack, Cody, and I went to go find Jack and Lilly and Mr. Sacred went to go alert the main officer. Jack's parents got to him before we got there and Jack had a gun pointed at him, and he only had a knife on him. When we arrived I acquired a gun, don't ask me how. I pointed it at Jack's mother demanding Jack's freedom. He told me if I moved an inch I'd shoot him. I was going to make the motion for Cody and Zack to move in, but a larger man had captured them and I was on my own. So, I used my amazing skills of diplomacy to help them smuggle Jack out and wanted to…um….pay for him. Then once Jack came to me I shot the fire sprinkler and bought us some time. Cody and Zack got free and we ran to Mitsu's restaurant for safety. The cops got everyone except the large man and he followed our water trailed and walked into Mitsu's restaurant. Mitsu then went on to engage the man in battle, and that's when Jack shot him. That's what happened and none of it is made up," Bobby said and after he was finished there was an eerie silence in the room as everyone sat in stunned silence of the story. Even Jupiter seemed to be shocked by what happened and she thought that Jack was very brave for doing what he did.

"Well, I wasn't informed of all of that. I must say that must've been a very distressing ordeal for you Jack, and I'm really sorry you had to go through that, but I want you to know what you were very brave to do what you did. I cannot express my disgust and utter disbelief I feel towards your parent's ignorant rationale of thinking they could get away with kidnapping you. I applaud you for being able to stand here before us without breaking down, because if that happened to me I wouldn't be as strong as you are, and I believe this will help you open up to people and possibly even get over some of the things you're feeling," Jupiter said smiling her genuine caring smile at Jack as she clapped a bit for him, and Melody then clapped too, but in a more sarcastic sense.

"Wow, even though that story isn't made up I think its complete bullshit. He's 'strong' for being able to get over some weak shit? Oh give me a fucking break. He isn't strong he ran away instead of fighting. He's a coward if anything. If I was your friend, thank god I'm not, but if I were I would've let them take you, because you aren't worth anything. It pisses me off how you think you're so fucking special and innocent. GET over yourself Jack," Melody said beginning to chuckle loudly and Lilly snapped. She couldn't contain her normal kindness, because Melody had gone too far today and she just needed to be put in her place.

"Melody," Lilly started as she stood up, "I'm tired of the way you're acting towards everyone, and because of some shitty stuff that happened to you, and don't even act like nothing happened to you, because I'd know better than anyone else what you went through. Just because you weren't able to control things then and you felt powerless then doesn't give you the right to terrorize people because you can't get over the fact that you were submissive once," Lilly yelled as Melody's eyes widened and she began shaking a bit as she stood up and Blaze stood next to her.

"What is she talking about Mel?" Blaze asked and Lilly smirked as she stepped forward and crossed her arms smiling wickedly.

"Oh, she didn't tell you? I know Melody. She was one of the girls in my parent's drug ring that was treated as a slave. I met her a couple times and she was nothing but their little sex slave, and they abused her so horribly that she just needs to hit others now so she can forget the times she got hit. Isn't that right, Melody?" Lilly sad and Melody's eyes began to water and she got really, really angry and she balled her hands into a fist and looked down angrily.

"You fucking bitch!" Melody looking up as she stared right into Lilly's eyes, and Lilly stepped back a bit intimidated by the look in her eyes, "I'm going to kill you!" She yelled pulling out a pocket knife and rushing at her, and then something unexpected happened. Jack arose from his seat and dashed forward he span his body so he was perpendicular to the blade as she came closer. Jack then grabbed the girl's wrist and sent his knee upward making a crack sound echo in the room, and then Melody cried out as she felt to the ground gripping her arm and Blaze ran over screaming.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Blaze asked and Jack did something else that shocked everyone he launched a punch that hit Blaze in his jaw making him fall over. Jack then stood over the two staring down at them.

"You people make me sick. Stay the fuck away from my friends, or I swear to god I'll kill you," Jack said and then left the room leaving everyone in a stunned silence.


	11. Updates

A/N: Just a short update about all my stories. Note that they don't all apply to every one

I'm contemplating deleting 'I'm not too young, damn it!' because I'm getting a lot of reviews and messages of people wanting this to be more sexual than I'm comfortable doing. They're in middle school. They're twelve and they definitely won't be having sex let alone anything sexual. So please if you were looking for a smutty sex story with prepubescent children look elsewhere. This story is meant to be sweet and fluffy. It's disturbing how many people want it to be sexual. Really disturbing

My normal computer broke and I had to buy a cheap seven inch netbook powered by android, and I have to say it SUCKS. The word doesn't have spell check or grammar check, it doesn't have word overflow, and when you use it a lot it lags like hell. So forget updates, not going to happen. So be patient with me.

I have a couple new stories coming and I'm putting the following stories on hold because of lack of inspiration or boredom: The Younger Brother, What happened in Vegas, and The Game. So, don't expect updates from them.

Finally, I am NOT gay. I'm a HETEROSEXUAL male and I just happen to like to write homosexual themed stories. So stop asking alright?

Stay golden~


	12. Chapter 12

Dear Readers,

I have not been updating for the following reasons.

I've been busy with school, and seeing as education comes before fanfiction I prioritize.

I really don't appreciate some of the reviews I get. Typos =/= Being a bad writer, and more so the people that accuse me of being such should realize something. I wrote my fanfiction stories as fun things, not to inordinately show off my writing capabilities. Don't be daft.

I'm writing a novel, which is far more important than these stories. So no, procrastination is not what's happening; it's more of me having better things to do.

I have a job AND relationship to think of, and so writing meaningless love stories aren't part of my plan.

FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M NOT A HOMOSEXUAL. Jesus fucking Christ people.

Begging and pleading for an update won't make it come, so stop spamming my damn reviews and inbox. They'll come when I have time.

With loving regard,

The writer.

Ps: I'm not interested in people's nit picking for typos, and me not caring about stuff. If you wanna be a grammar nazi, go somewhere else. Also, when I say you have to be a good writer to write this stuff, I AM a good writer. I've won numerous awards. So please, stop asking for shit, if my stories aren't meant to be sexual then that's how they stay. Fucking live with it. Stay golden. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS, FEEL FREE TO FLAME ME IN MESSAGES.


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